When Given the Chance
by purpledragon6
Summary: What happens when four reapers are given the task of taking care of a two month old child? Well anything could happen really. Rated T for light swearing. Please read and review.
1. What are the odds

The first on the Death List that night had been Shellobeth Avery Thompson.

"Odd name." The red-headed reaper muttered with a soft laugh as he put the list away and continued to walk down the pathway in the direction of the woman's house.

As he got closer to the home it became obvious what the cause of death was. A fire had done it.

"Oh my..." Was the second thing he had muttered that night as he walked up the pathway to whatever was left of the house and inspected one of the busted windows stained black with ash.

The house wasn't completely burned to the ground, its structure still stood, not as strongly but enough to support itself. The door swung limply off its hinges reviling thellll inside of the house starting with a livingroom. A rather cute little room despite half of the furniture reduced to ruble and the only color and pattern in the room was grey,black and white singe marks. As he entered a few flakes of ash snowed down and stuck to his clothing. It was an irritating sight but nothing could be done about it, if he tried to brush it off it would only spread and ruin the material of his jacket.

So instead he sighed heavily and went to search for the body of Shellobeth. The sooner he could find her and leave this dreadful place the better. Figuring the livingroom was vacant the hallway that connected it to the kitchen as well as many other rooms in the house was the next place to look. Upon entering the hallway there was a doorway wide enough that the entire kitchen could be viewed from it and it reviled instantly that it to was empty and with no point in even entering the room one of the many doors would probably contain the body.

The first door across the hallway from the kitchen, oddly stood out from the first two doors seen in the house already. This one was closed, its door knob still a shiny gold color as if it had never been touched before.

"What are the odds that-" He didn't even bother to finish that sentence as he opened the door.

A baby's room. Small and pink colored with a tiny baby crib pushed up in the corner with several baby blankets thrown inside and a small dresser next to it. Slowly stepping inside the room he looked around again.

"What a pity it would be." He said aloud. "If Shellobeth, was an infant."

No sooner had he said this did his eyes fall onto a horrific sight. A small skeleton like hand was poking out from under the many blankets. Pale white skin stretched over the thin bones stood out in the dim lighting of the room.

"Eh." He gasped out, somewhat discussed by this new sight but still found himself pulling back the rest of the blankets.

Curled up in a tiny ball there lay the remains of a small child. Blonde curls were covered in ash and several burns colored the white skin red and pink. The child wore a camosol like top as a dress and still had its thumb in its mouth. From the looks of it the baby was no older than a couple of months.

"So... About those odds." Pushing back a stray lock of red hair he summoned his scythe, laid the child on its back and cut it open.

Its records filed out of its limp form like fireworks. Or firework in this case. The child hadn't lived very long so not many records had been kept.

**Shellobeth Avery Thompson.** Was written at the top. He read on, curious as to what the child's story was and as he would soon find out, was a very tragic one.

Shellobeth was only 2 and a half months old. She was born to two very dishonorable nobles Richard and Margret Thompson who had no regards for their newborn daughter what so ever and kept her locked in her room most hours of the day, only checking on her every so often to make sure the child was not dead, and what a nasty surprise they received when on this day when they went to check on their daughter found her stone-cold dead. The child's death which was reviled to have actually been caused by an incident earlier that same day. She had died due to starvation. The fire had been started by the frantic mother who upon discovering her child dead feared being blamed for it (Though it was her fault to begin with) and of course leading to the fire to make it seem as though the fire had been what killed her.

"Hm..." He sighed after reading this. "Poor little thing. Never got a chance at life."

He glanced down at the child's face which he hadn't gotten a good look at yet. Despite being stretched thin she was still a pretty little thing. She had a sweet pink face, with soft black eyelashes hid what ever colored eyes she had from view and her dark pink lips were frozen upwards in a tiny smile around her tiny finger. It was a very sad sight. She looked so innocent and so happy despite everything. The reaper shook his head and was about to mark the girl as dead but stopped again to glance at her tiny face one more time. She laid there limp, not moving even with her insides cut open and her body covered in large burns. Her smile looked more like a smirk now as she waited for him to pronounce her dead and then claim her soul but tonight, that was something that wasn't going to accrue.

He watched her for a minutes time then sighed heavily.

"William will punish me for this." He said to the child before scrawling something down.

Slowly a pair of baby pink eyes fluttered open and the child's chest heaved forward as she let out an ear piercing cry.


	2. Options

**A/N: I wanted to be immature and put down that while she was sucking on Grell, after the door opened he was supposed to say "Nope, its to late, shes already tasted human flesh. We have to kill her before she consumes us all." **

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The cries of a starving infant with second degree burns is murder on ones ears. When the chilly night scratches at her skin and her cries become louder, well the hearing in one ear is slowly beginning to fade and by the time one discovers that the child has just wet herself, well by now their ears are dead.

"Oh! What is it now?" Grell yelped as he looked down at the small bundle in his arms.

In trying to quiet her she had been wrapped up in his favorite jacket which by now had spit-up, tears and what he only prayed wasn't urine. This attempt seemed successful about an hour ago when the warmth and dryness of the jacket seemed to have lulled the child to sleep but no here she was wide awake again and screaming as though her short life had depended on it.

"Umph!" The baby Shellobeth gasped out as she put her hands over her small tummy and began to cry louder.

"Thats right..." The reaper mumbled as the thought struck him. "You died of starvation."

Shellobeth looked up at him with what seemed to be pleading eyes. All she wanted was the pain in her tummy to go away then she would be better. The red-head thought it over for a minute then looked down at the baby big pink eyes.

"Well there's a problem, two actually. The first being that I have nothing on hand and the second being that although the town is just a few blocks a walk it's almost two in the morning and all the shops are closed." He told her, but knew she wouldn't be able to understand any of what she just said. "I'm trying to explain this to an infant... And now I'm talking to myself, how desperate am I?"

Of course no one answered this so instead he tried to think this problem out in his mind. It seemed he only had two options now. The first being to return to The Dispatch with the child and find her something there, running the risk of not only disturbing the piece but also getting an earful from William about the importance of work or how children are troublesome or worse yet being intrusted with the caring of the child. Their second option -

"Its worth a try." He looked down at the whimpering infant and pulled the jacket tighter around her small frame. "Come along dear, we're going to visit the town morgue."

Shellobeth just stared up at him, she didn't care where he took her (Not like she had any sort of choice in the matter) as long as she was taken care of in the next twenty-five minutes she would be fine.

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It was a relativly short walk from the side-walk they were on to the location at mind and surprisingly enough as they got closer to it the quieter the baby got.

"OK..." Grell took a deep breath and shifted the baby to one shoulder where she took up trying to suck on him, he then used his free hand to knock on the door.

Shellobeth tries biting at him but soon took her attention away from him when the door opened, she saw a strange looking man with silver hair standing in the doorway.

"And thank God you're home." Grell mumbled under his breath.

"Why wouldn't I be?" The man asked sounding a bit confused.

"Well..." Grell started but was cut off by Shellobeth's cries. "Oh would you shut up!"

The man giggled oddly at this and took the baby from Grell and cradled her.

"And whose this little princess?" He asked as Grell grimanced.

"Shellobeth Thompson." He answered bluntly. "She was the one I was going to reap tonight until-"

Grell gestured at the child's small size trying to indicate that before meeting her he hadn't the slightest idea that she was that young. As he rolled his hand at her Shellobeth stopped her crying and became interested in his hand.

"Aside from that, I couldn't run the risk of taking her back to the dispatch so- well here we are I guess." Grell tried to wrap up the conversation.

Shellobeth burst into tears again and began to stick her fist in her mouth.

"Oh and also her records say she died of starvation so yeah I guess shes a little hungry and she won't stop crying until either I'm deaf or she gets fed. Which reminds me, I came to ask if you had any milk I could borrow for her."

Much to the child's relief (And Grell's for that matter) as soon as this sentence was spoken she was given a bottle. As soon as she emptied it all of her earlier problems had faded away. Well except one. She was now alive and breathing but without gaurdians now. The only relatives the child seemed to have was her parents and by now they were only Lord knows where.

"Well an orphange is an option." Grell muttered to himself as he waited with Shellobeth while her second bottle was made.

She looked up at him with her wide pink eyes and blicked a few times. Again, despite looking like a little red skeloton she still looked so adorable and innocent. To just abandon her seemed like the worst option out there.

"No. But if not an orphange and not the Dispatch (for Will's sake apparently) then where." This was supposed to be more towards himself then anyone else but for some reason it go an answer.

"She could stay here."

Grell's head shot up too look up at Undertaker. Shellobeth looked at him to, mainly because he had a second bottle for her and a small bit because Grell was doing so also.

This almost seemed like a bad idea. Like all the other reapers Grell had heard most legends and above that a building full of coffin and dead bodies didn't seem like the proper place for a child, but it was nicer then the local orphanage, anyone would have to agree with that. Slowly he looked back down at the infant and tilted her head so she was looking back at him. It seemed silly to ask this but it seemed important.

"Would you like to live here Shellobeth?" He asked softly, holding the girl's tiny hands.

Shellobeth blinked a few times before looking in between the two men and then smiling looked around the rest of the inside of the moruge. It had been the first time Grell had seen her smile since she first opened her eyes earlier that night.


	3. Shellobeth's POV

**A/N: So sorry its been a while but Ive been busy. OK so anyway. I've gotten five reviews for this story so far and descided to add a filler chapter for now. **

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**Shellobeth's Third Person POV.**

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As the baby finished off her second bottle she took a glance around the room she was currently in. Something was off but she couldn't place it, something was different about the room she had fallen asleep in compared to the room she had woken up in but with the pain in her tummy finally gone she really could have cared less. One thing she did care about however were the men talking above her. She didn't recognize their voices but she could tell both were male and neither of them were yelling. Other than that everything else about their conversation was a mystery to her.

The words their were usuing were to big for her tiny mind to grab hold of but she still looked up at them and pretended to understand. She smiled brightly at them when they both looked down at her and she finally figured that the conversation must have been about her which if that was the case it probably wasn't anything bad. The one with red hair, whose jacket the girl was currently wrapped up in began to move his lips but the little girl couldn't understand a word he said except one. 'Here'.

She knew what that meant. Here was where she currently was and the last she checked the here she had been at was her home so in that case here must be home. She smiled brightly having figured this much out and began to giggle.

'What about home?' she cooed out in baby talk that neither male understood but took it as an answer to the question the baby had just been asked.

"Here it is then." The redhead sighed handing the baby over to the silverhaired male.

'Course it is! Where else would it be?' Shellobeth cooed over to him and when he didn't respond figured he probably didn't hear her and that she shouldn't bother in asking again if it wasn't going to effect where home was.

The redhead stood up and turned away from the two and began to leave the room but then stopped and turned to them again.

"I'd ask for my jacket back but-" At that perfect second the infant spit up on the red fabric and burst into a fit of giggles when she saw the man's face drop. "Nevermind."

After that he left, leaving behind both the jacket and a new thought for the tiny baby. She knew she had a mommy and daddy and that they lived in a home with her. So the man that just left didn't live here so he wasn't either of them then. Which lead to the new question of who was. She tried to figure this out but soon found her eyes begin to droop and then close.

'It can wait till morning. No ones going anywhere.' She yawned into her small hand and shut her eyes.


	4. Pink Socks and Imprints

**A/N: Not so much a filler chapter but it is told mainly from Shellobeth's POV again. Possibly last time in the story its told from her POV but since yesturday was mother's day and my sis posted a picture of my baby nephew playing with his foot it just had to be done :P And if you could have guessed I had the giggles while I wrote this. So in this chapter Shellobeth tries to think of who Mommy and Daddy are but becomes to interested in other things in the mean time.**

**Chapter Five Preview: The little infant sat propped up by some pillows in her coffin crib (As Red had put it) and stared at her new toy that sat staring back at her. **

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**Shellobeth's Third Person POV... Again.**

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Now there defiantly was something different about home that Shellobeth just couldn't ignore when she woke up that morning. She had woken up in what seemed to be a wooden box that was deep red and her red blanket with sleeves was now black. The last time she had woken up her crib had bars and the sheets were light pink with little bunnies stitched on it. She didn't mind this change however once she realized that not only was this crib was more comfy then her old one but also that it smelled nice, like sweet stuff.

'I was thinking of somethin. But wha was it?' The baby thought as she tried to roll over onto her side to think. 'Sometin to do with home...'

It didn't take much time for her to forget about what she had done completely and take interest in something new. A little lump in her blanket was soon spotted.

'Wonder what that little thing is.' She thought to herself as she began to kick the blankets off of herself to get a better look.

What she found was a little pink something with a dark pink bow on it, and the thing seemed to be attached to her. She began to feel a bit scared, she had no idea what this creature was or if it bit. Slowly, she stretched out an arm and pinched the top of the pink thing. It hurt her, which to an baby of only two months could only mean that this thing did bite and would bite her again if she pintched it so when she tried a second time she cupped the creature in her hands and tugged at it. It slid from her leg and into her hand.

'I got it!' She giggled happily to herself as she held the 'creature' tightly and brought it up to her face for inspection.

When she looked into its mouth she saw that the creature was hallow, but it was still pretty scary to look at so she tossed it aside and looked down at where it had come from. She was both curious and a little frightened at the discovery of her own foot but again she was only two months old and didn't know any better and during her inspection of this knew limb which she discovered looked just like her hand she didn't notice two people entering her room.

"Oh! Isn't that just adorable?" One voice said. "Shes discovered her foot."

"I just came here to get my jacket." The other mumbled, this voice had gotten to baby's attention. "Its over on the chair, I see it."

She rolled back over to her right side and looked up. There stood the two males from the night before. She knew the red head, who had carried her around last night but did not live there so he couldn't be her mommy or daddy. At the sight of a familiar face the baby giggled and waved to him, he in return, simply stared at her with a curious expression, which grew eye more curious when the baby frowned suddenly.

'That it! I was trying to think of who mommy and daddy could be!' She turned her gaze from Red to the Silver-haired man. 'Now who the heck is this guy?'

She tried once again to figure it out but was suddenly distracted yet again when she saw the jacket, which she recognized as her blanket from the night before.

'Well that what happened to my blankey.' She thought as she watched Red hold it at a distance in his hand. 'I'll just guess its his blanky to. Well I got a new one so he can have his back.'

She hadn't realized it but she was caught staring at the pair who then looked at each other.

"I wonder if shes imprinted on anything yet." One said, but due to her still having the mind of a baby she did not know which.

"Well she is two months, shes bound to have a few by now." The other responded.

"According to her records though her parents never paid any mind to her, so I don't think shes seen anybody else other than us. I hope she hasn't imprinted yet, there is no way in hell that I'm going to play mother for that thing! Not after she ruined my favorite jacket." The first speaker spoke again.

"Maybe she hadn't yet. She is a human child after all, not a baby duck so it may take her longer to imprint." The second speaker spoke yet again.

"Oh I hope so." The first muttered as they both left the room.

'Baby ducky? I'm not one? But silly I am a baby.' Shellobeth cooed after them as she laid back down. 'What imprinting anyway?'

Shaking her head she curled up into a tiny ball and shut her eyes again. It may have been morning but all that discovering and thinking wore her out quickly, but she couldn't sleep right away because she had a new thought.

'I think that guy might've been daddy. He hasn't left yet. And Red has so he can't be. But they the only two I know so I wonder who Red is." She shook her head.

Today was an off day. Not a good day for thinking to much, so Shellobeth decided that she would save that thought for later.

'But didn't I already save it for later? Isn't today later?' Her eyes suddenly popped open only to close. 'I have no idea. I'm to tired to think now though... I'll just take things as is for now.'

After figuring now would be a good time for another nap, the baby tried to fall back asleep but much to her annoyance found herself being picked up and held. She opened up her eyes (this time knowing that shutting them again would be a vain attempt) and saw the silver-haired man holding her. She looked up at him and studied him. They both were smiling at one another and this put the child at ease but also in a way seemed to answer her question from earlier.

'Ya huh. He has to be daddy. because only daddy's smile at their babies like that.' the raven-haired child began to giggle happily from figuring all of this out. 'Which I think that makes Red my- Nah. He doesn't seem to live here. So I wonder who my mommy is then, I gotta figure this o- nah. I got more important things to think about right now. Such as what the heck that stupid pink thing that bited me is!'


	5. 13 Hours In

**A/N: Another update! :D I got this idea when I was in Biology and thinking of bones and skulls and skeletons but also Shellobeth's weight. When Grell first finds her it says that she's stretched thin and burned in several places, and since she's only had like two or three bottles since then- Just read and find out what my thought process was today.**

**PS: I know the last few chapters have been fairly similar but the next few after this one will change. Shellobeth will actually leave the Morgue for once and I may or may not make it a time skip.**

**PPS: So I'm kinda going to do both versions of Grell for this one. The manga where he wants kids and the anime where he doesn't really like them. **

**PPPS: Sorry for the crappy ending to this chapter but I had no other ideas.**

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**2:15PM.**

It was a shock. Truly it was a shock when the red-head returned to the morgue for the third time that day (An object had gone missing from his jacket and it was in the pocket when he had gone there apparently) and saw the infants current condition. When he had last seen the tot she was as thin as a pin and as red as a rose in certain areas of her body. She had resembled something of the undead almost with the ammount of missing flesh or the pieces of flesh that hung off of her thin body, but know, that was a completely different story.

He found her sitting in front of a mirror that had been placed out in front of her. At first he didn't recongnize her, and had actually thought it may have been a different child, until being told by his friend that the infant was infact Shellobeth.

"Not a bad job in fixing her up." Grell muttered as he picked her up and looked her over.

She was light pink now all over her body, instead of red or white like she had been before and her wounds had been covered in a good deal of bandages. Another fix had been her hair, trimmed up to the same length and tied at the top of her head with a pink ribbon with any trace of a blonde curl missing.

"The ash wouldn't wash out." Undertaker explained when Grell gave Shellobeth's hair a questioning look.

"It'll grow back out." Grell responded with a shrug as he contiuned to look the baby over.

She was smiling widely the entire time, enjoying the attention she was getting and was soon giggling when a hand got placed over her tummy, which was now bigger than it had been before. If guessed she seemed to have gained at least three pounds in the past five hours, not that that was a bad thing, it did after all help her fit into her new dress which was the same color as the ribbon in her hair with long sleeves and reached the her knees. From the knee down, long white socks kept the rest of her warm.

"Cute..." He muttered as he gave her one last glance and placed her back in front of the mirror.

The baby crawled closer to the mirror and began to suck on it.

"Um... What is she doing?" To the red-head this was a very odd action.

"She thinks theres another baby in there." The answer came quickly.

"So shes sucking on it?" Shellobeth pulled away from the mirror to study her reflection again, as she did this, she noticed the bandage on her head and began to suck on its reflection.

"Shes kissing it actually." The silver-haired male chuckled as he watched.

"Why?" Grell asked, rubbing the back of his head some what intranced by the baby.

"To make the baby feel better because it is hurt of course." Another chuckle.

"O-OK?" He was finally able to turn away from the scene before them. "So what do we plan on doing with her?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are we going to do with her? She doesn't look dead anymore so theres bound to be a few human families willing to take her or something. Shes still a baby so in a few months she won't remember any of this." Grell answered simply, and yet somewhat dramatically.

"Weelll, theres just one problem." A dead silence fell over the room when this was said.

"Problem? Oh Lord, what problem would that be?" Grell turned to him with wide eyes and his eyebrows knitting together.

"She said her first word today." Another silence followed this.

"And?" Grell rolled his wrist, gesturing for him to contine.

"Remember when we were talking about imprinting?" Undertaker asked simply.  
"Oh God.. Please tell me she didn't..." Grell facepalmed.

"She did." Rather than silence following this answer Grell's response was imediate.

"In just thirteen hours!?" He yelped, somewhat in amazement.

"Apparently." Undertaker shrugged simply, completely unphased by Grell's somewhat paniced state.

"I'm frightened to ask, what Was her first word?" Grell seemed to calm down some and was now rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Just then the girl whose voice babbled in a somewhat loud whine. When they both turned to her she held up her tiny arms.

"Dadda!" She whined as she kept her arms up until the one she was adressing came over and picked her up.

"Okey, I guess its better you than me. So." Grell paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "What do You plan on doing with her."

He was about to answer Grell but was cut off by Shellobeth, who hugged him tightly around his neck and giggled happily.

"Dadda!" She said simply, and somehow that single word actually worked as an answer.

"Adoption?" This was answered with a nod from both Undertaker and Shellobeth.

Another silence fell about the room as the three stood staring blankly at one another. The silence, however, did not last long and was soon broken when all three began to laugh.

"This'll be interesting." Grell laughed out softly. "I know you've been around many children before but actually raising one is something I doubt you'd last a week in doing."

The red-head stopped laughing suddenly and smoothed out his hair.

"Of course, if you can raise her, it be interesting to see how she turns out." His gaze shifted from the two, to an object on the floor.

It was a small rag doll, poorly stuffed with neon green buttons for eyes and a several triangles stitched on its face for a smile. Babba as he remembered the doll had been called.

"Well, I've found what I was missing." He muttered as he picked up the doll.

As much as it embarresed him to admit it, he carried around the doll during feild work as a traveling buddy. The second he picked it up Shellobeth cooed loudly. She let go of the hug and was soon reaching out her tiny hands for the doll. Raising an eyebrow (he really didn't understand why Shellobeth wasn't frighted of Babba, the doll was in fact quite scary looking.) Grell held out the toy for Shellobeth. She grabbed it and hugged it so tightly that if she hugged it any tighter its seems might come undone. After a while, she loosened her hold on the toy and held it back out to Grell, who simply waved her hands and the toy away.

"You can keep it." He muttered as Shellobeth cooed yet again. "Just take good care of him OK?"

She nodded and hugged the toy yet again.

"Good, but remember Shelly, I'll be coming over every so often to make sure you're taking care of her- him." He said, patting the girl's head then taking his leave.


	6. Convincing Will that this is a good idea

**A/N: *screaming into a pillow until I notice you reading this* Oh hey! :D *tosses pillow aside as it knocks over a lap* Hi how are ya? I don't know about you but I am doing absolutely awful! With harsh family and friend/family problems I am in over my head with stress and upset emotions and my stubbornness isn't helping either soooooap, since I don't have control with the families in my life I am going to write of the one in this story. Now I got a review for the previous chapter asking about pairings and I think its kinda funny, this story was actually originally drafted to be a pairing fic but I'm not so sure about it so if you guys want to pairing just leave it in a review and I will think about it but now no pairings. So anywho, I've noticed a few chapters were either fillers or took place in the same place so we're gonna change it up a bit in this chapter XD so without any further delays, *plugs in my headphones and puts on Butterfly Kisses* This is 'CHAPTER WITHOUT A TITLE YET BUT IT WILL HAVE ONE WHEN I POST IT!'**

**P.S: The whole argument between Ronald and Grell was supposed to show that A: Ronald doesn't think of Grell as natural and B: Is basically saying he can't picture the other as a mother or anything else feminine.**

**PPS: I don't know why I even wrote this. Its kinda supposed to foreshadow but its also supposed to get the other reapers involved in the plot.**

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A week and come and gone and both the adult and child were still in tact and still coexisting with one another peacefully (Well other than the baby's tendency to wake up in the middle of the night screaming just because she had nothing better to do) and this shallow victory just had to be shared with their redheaded friend who for some reason didn't keep his promise that week in checking in on things, so the baby soon found herself one day waking up in a rather odd place. It was a baby carriage of corse, black in color with a matching lace sheet over the top of it to block out some of the harsh sunlight from touching the baby's skin but had a few holes in the shape of flowers for the baby not to get frightened from the dark and so she could at least have some fresh air.

_'I wonder where we are.' _The baby thought as she observed her surroundings.

Above her head she saw the flowers were blue, but then white, and then back to blue, and then green, and then blue away. A small thing that made her giggle in utter delight as it happened, having never seen the sky before this was a new discovery for her. Another new discovery that delighted her was a bottle that had been tucked under her left arm and her stuffed toy Babba tucked under the other.

_'Wonder whats in here.' _She cooed out loud as she dropped the toy and lifted the bottle with both arms and pressed her lips to the bottles plastic top and sucked on it.

It was something warm and sweet but what ever was in the bottle was hidden from Shellobeth's view by the bottles glass casing being painted dark pink. What ever she was drinking was nothing poison and since it was more than likely given to her by her daddy then it probably wasn't anything that would harm her in any way, but even so she was curious to know what it was. Tiny grunts were soon heard by the adult as the infant tried to twist off the lid of her bottle and much to her luck (a bit of her annoyance) her father stopped her from opening it and gently scolded the child for it.

_'I just wanna know whats in there!' _She cooed as she reached for her bottle which had just been taken away from her, completely ignoring what was being said to her.

That was the only thing that really changed between the two during that week. They had developed some what of a langauge that only they really could understand and it had been done so simply it made them both question why the red-headed reaper had made parenting seem so difficult.

"It's just milk princess. You've had it before." He answered as he handed the bottle back to the little girl.

She blinked once or twice then went back to happily sucking her bottle until she eventually fell asleep holding it again, only to be woken up what seemed to be seconds later by an unfamiliar voice.

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"Um, so... When and how did the kid happen?" A male's voice came, followed by a very hollow thump. "What? I just want to know- how its- here."

"We've been over this quite a few times Ronald." The familiar voice of Grell answered him. "She isn't biological to any of us, she was on the die list and her parents left her so yeah. Thats how shes here."

"Its a girl?" The other male dubbed Ronald asked slowly.

"Her name is Shellobeth! You knew this since yesterday. You thought it was a boy until now?" Grell shot at him in annoyance.

"Well no, its just Shellobeth is a pretty awkward name you know." Ronald said quickly.

"Are you calling my little princess awkward?" Undertaker asked in a defensive tone.

"No, just her name!" Ronald said almost depreat sounding.

"You know I found out why they call her that." Grell interrupted the two.

"Really? Whys that?" Both asked in unison.

"Shellobeth, say it slowly, its something you can kill a new-born in. Shallow bath. Her mom tried to kill her before." He said simply with a shrug.

"Oh how sad!" Both said once again in unison.

"Sad but true." Grell said nonchalantly.

A sudden whine made all three males go silent as they turned back towards the cradle.

"Well at least we know shes alive." Grell muttered as he walked over to the cradle, narrowly dodging an 'I told you so' from Undertaker.

Shaking his head, Grell slowly lifted up the lace viel currently hiding the baby girl from view and picked Shellobeth up carefully. Shellobeth smiled happily up at him and waved at him. He turned back to the others and held her out for Ronald to see.

"This is Shellobeth." He said, not noticing the hearts in the baby's eyes when she saw the blonde.

"Oh shes just adorable." Ronald said as he took a step closer to get a better look at her. "How old is she again?"

"Two months, which is apparently the age to imprint." Grell answered as he shot the older reaper a sideways glance.

"She thinks you're her mother? Thats hysterical." Ronald said with a slightly laugh as he turned his attention back to the red-head.

"Not me and not as a mother." Grell muttered under his breath as he held out Shellobeth and offered her to Ronald, not wanting to hold her anymore.

"So she sees Undertaker as a father? Thats adorable!" The blonde giggled as he took Shellobeth into his arms and watched as she snuggled into him happily.

"Wait, why is it funny when she thinks of me as a mother but not him as a father?" He didn't sound at all amused by those comments.

"It just is. It seems more natural that way." He answered with a shrug but soon realized his mistake in his choice of words and tensed up.

"Cover the baby's ears. I have something to say about that!" The red-head yelped and the baby's ears were covered after that.

From her point-of view the red reaper was yelling about something and randomly pointing at things, including himself and the whole display made Shellobeth laugh her tiny bottom off and when the ranting soon ended and Shellobeth's ears were uncovered, she was still laughing, earning a deep red blush from Grell.

"What is she laughing at?" He asked to no one in particular.

"I guess she thinks you were acting silly." Ronald suggested as the baby was handed back over to her father. "And I apologize for the my earlier statement. I guess you could be a mom. I mean you did get her to laugh, and since she already has a daddy she'll need a mommy. But wait, would that make you two-"

"Shut the hell up Ronald!" The youngest reaper was soon tackled to the floor and playful punches were landed on the two while the oldest and youngest watched in pure amusement.

_'Look they both fell down!' _Shellobeth cooed happily but looked up suddenly at a new figure now standing in the door way.

"Sutcliff. Knox." The stern voice matched the stern face man standing in the doorway.

Instantly the two men tore away from one another and pulled themselves off of the floor.

"Oh hey Will." Ronald greeted as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

The room stayed dead quiet as the four men passed along an awkward and silent conversation that must have been had many times before if they could understand each other even without words. Meanwhile Shellobeth, who had no idea what was going on, suddenly burst into a fit of high-pitched giggles which caught all of their attentions.

"And who is this?" The stern man dubbed Will asked after a long pause.

"T-this is um Shellobeth." Ronald stuttered out slowly.

"How about we step out into the hallway to talk about this? I'm sure Shelly wants a nap right about now." Her father said as he put her back in her carriage and put the veil back over her.

_'But I not even sleepy!'_ Shellobeth cooed as she pouted and crossed her arms. _'I wanna be picked up again! Not sleep!'_

The room stayed silent so Shellobeth figured she must've been alone again and began to slowly close her eyes.

_'I is not sleeping. I just closing my eyes.' _She thought to herself but found herself fast asleep seconds later, completely unaware of the conversation going on outside the room that was focused mainly on her.

* * *

"An entire week and everything was fine!" The silver-haired reaper shot to the raven haired one.

"A week isn't the same as an entire life time!" Will responded in an equally snappy tone.

"If she even lives that long." Grell muttered with a soft smirk.

"No one asked for your input!" Will pointed out when it was obvious that comment had struck a serious nerve in the oldest of the four.

"Well no one asked for yours." Undertaker reminded Will sternly.

"Ouch." Ronald, who up until this point had stayed silent shot out in a school-boy like tone.

"I still don't see what the big deal is." The morgue owner muttered while folding his arms.

"There isn't one, those two just like to be dramatic." The youngest reaper replied with a fold of his own arms.

"Again, no one asked for your input." Grell said in a very pissy tone.

"You're only saying that because he said it first!" Ronald yelped, sending the red-head a sharp glare. "As usual."

"And whats that supposed to mean Ronald!?" Grell asked, suddenly turning a shade of pink.

"I think you know exactly what it means loverboy!" Ronald narrowly dodged a slap to the head and Grell wasn't as lucky in dodging a bonk on the head from Will's scythe.

"Stop it both of you, no we're straying off topic." He reminded them both while adjusting his glasses.

"I'm not even sure what the topic even is! What the hell are you two arguing about!?" Ronald shot back after straighening himself back out.

"Reasons why keeping this child is a bad idea." William answered simply then fixing his glare on Undertaker.

"And those reasons would be?" He asked with a small smirk when Will took a moment to answer.

"Its a little odd that a former reaper of children would want to raise a living one for starters." It was a few seconds pause before this comment got a response.

"What are you implying?" And yet another nerve had been struck.

"I think we all know the answer to that." Will said stiffly.

"That isn't a valid reason!" Undertaker complained while inserting random arm flails.

"And why not?" Will asked.

"It just isn't!"

"And why not?"

"Well why not?"

"I see your point. Moving on. It still is not a good thing. How much do you even know about parenting? Let alone parenting a little girl?" The raven haired man asked, sounding a bit sincery as he spoke.

"I know a lot more than you." An Ooo could be heard coming from Ronald as this response but he was ignored by the older reapers.

"I still don't see why you two have to argue about this. She imprinted on him! Its his problem not yours Will." Ronald said suddenly, cutting them both off before they had a chance to say anything and in the breif pause he took to think of what else to say, Will tried to speak again.

"I understand that but-"

"So, its his choice in keeping her or not." Ronald said just as stern as the other had been minutes earlier.

"Actually it seemed like it was more of the baby's descition." Grell muttered as he remember the girl's declaring cry of 'Dadda' just a week ago. "So I guess that settles things then?"

"I guess so." The silver-haired man confirmed. "Now if you don't mind, I have to go check on My Daughter."

Ronald followed him as he left the room. Leaving Grell and Will in the hallway.

"So what are your real reasons for not wanting her around?" Grell asked. "Like Ronald says, she isn't your problem."

"I just can't see any of this ending well. A child is a lot of responsibility and in type of world we live in and the type of work we do it isn't safe for her." Will answered in a soft spoken voice, leaving Grell a bit uneasy.

"Will, I've never seen this side of you." He muttered simply.

"What side might that be?" Will's original tone began to return.

"Oh nothing. Forget I mentioned it." Grell said, quickly following the other three into the room. "Now come on, lets go see the baby again."


	7. BabySitting Nightmare part 1

The baby cooed happily when she woke up safe and sound in her crib again with her funny looking stuffed toy at her side and yet another full bottle hiding in the corner. In the corner of the room, her red-headed 'friend' was watching her while rocking back and forth slowly in a rocking-chair with his fingers steapled under his chin. The child had yet to take notice of him or the stern and somewhat annoyed look he held.

Why was he even here? He remembered how the conversation had went and wasn't to happy of how it all went.

* * *

_"Its only for the afternoon." The silver-haired reaper told the other three males. _

_"Where are you going again?" The blonde asked, finally taking interest in the conversation._

_"Going shopping for baby supplies." He answered simply. _

_"Can't you just take her with?" The raven haired man asked stiffly._

_"I heard her sniffling a bit today and I don't want her to go outside in case shes sick." He answered, sounding a bit annoyed by now._

_"Well geez, you know I would love to watch little- Sarabeth, or whatever her name is, but I've got field work I gotta get done and so- yeah." Ronald stuttered out as he slowly back out of the room and then ran down the hall. _

_All eyes fell on Will who suddenly tensed up but then began to exit the room as well._

_"And I have paperwork. Ask Grell to do it. After all, hes the only one of us who isn't busy." Will said with a ghost of a smirk on his lips when he could almost hear the string of curses running through the red-head's mind._

_"I. Hate. You." Grell muttered coldly._

* * *

So now he was stuck babysitting princess wines-alot for the next four hours. So far all that little girl did was throw her toys, babble loudly, wet herself, and spill her milk everywhere, and by everywhere he meant only on his beloved red jacket.

"Can you just sit still for five minutes!?" He yelped as Shellobeth began to crawl and roll around in her crib while cooing loudly.

She stopped and looked up at him, then after blinking once, twice, three times, she spit up on herself.

"Oh gross! Not again! Ew." He muttered as he got up and walked over to her and picked her up. "Ugh! This was your last clean shirt wasn't it?"

Shaking his head, he gently lifted the shirt over her head so none of the spit up would get on her and then went to go toss her shirt in a dirty-clothes hamper, leaving the baby in nothing but her diaper, though by the wide smile the baby wore, she didn't seem to care at all.

"Well at least you're not cry-" He was suddenly cut off by a loud cry ringing out from the baby's throat. "Oh! What is it now!? Why is it you always seem to cry when I'm aro- Oh wait. You're wet aren't you?"

After a quick inspection, his assumption were proven correct.

"And let me guess, this is your only diaper isn't it?" He muttered as he looked around for an alternative.

Within two minutes the baby found herself wearing the morning paper as a diaper, which made her giggle happily as she looked at all of the silly pictures on the paper.

"Eh, the post is shit anyway so go ahead and wet yourself." He told her as he sat her back in her crib and patted her head (more like let his hand hover over her head and then pull it away as if she burned him). "Or how about you lay down and sleep until your 'daddy' gets back and then you'll be his problem and not mine."

Shellobeth giggled happily and gently took hold of a handful of red hair and tugged it gently and then began to suck on it. On a regular day, he probably would've flipped shit and then gone on a long rant on how long it took him to wash and style his hair that day, but today all he could say to this was. "Really, why am I not surprised?"

"Pwitty!" Shellobeth cooed as she bit the hair in her mouth.

Rolling his green eyes, he gently pried his hair out of the girl's mouth and ended up replacing it with his hand.

"Wow. I did not think this through did I..." He muttered coldly again as the child began to nom on his hand, only stopping so she could shake her head. "Just like I didn't think your survival through..."

She stopped her chewing suddenly to look up at him. She knew he was taking about her but he didn't seem happy.

"Look kid, if it were my choice, you would've been off at the orphanage down the street but instead you're here." He said as he poked her forehead. "I don't even like children so I can't figure out what was going through my head when I decided to spare you."

She frowned sadly and hugged his arm and looked up at him with watery pink eyes.

"Oh come on. Don't give me that look." He said beginning to frown himself.

She began to whimper and nuzzled his arm and tightened her hug on it.

"Kid, don't start crying. Please don't." He lightly begged as he picked her up and held her close and tried to think of what to do. "Kid if you start crying then I may start and my eye-make-up cost a lot of money! Crap, how desperate am I? I'm talking to a baby! Again!"

Shellobeth began to whimper and was about to cry when a sudden sound caught her attention. A very light hum, that sounded really pretty to her. She looked up at the humming Red-head and began to purr softly as she listened to the lovely little song and the slow swaying feeling. The song didn't stop until all of her tears were dried up completely.

"Huh. That actually worked?" Grell muttered as he looked down at the now relaxed Shellobeth. "Well thats a first."

Shellobeth looked up at him and nodded quickly then went back to looking at the buttons on the man's shirt.

'I don't know what Reddy said but it must've been something.' the baby thought as she slowly shut her eyes and was soon asleep and back in her beloved bed.

"Okay. So how about you take a nap. And don't wake up until your father gets home?" Of course he knew that the baby was already asleep and even if she was awake she wouldn't understand a word he said.

Quietly leaving the room, the redhead returned to the front room and sat in the only chair there was in the morgue (it was brought from home of course) and proceeded to read from the remains of the post that wasn't used for Shellobeth's diaper. The first page's headline quickly caught his eye.

_**Escaped Serial Killer. **_

_**Killer targets young children, specifically children aged new-born to five years. **_

Green eyes dilated as the redhead's mind were suddenly flooded with thoughts the bedroom window next to the baby's bed.

"It was lock wasn't it?" He muttered, as the room suddenly became eerily quiet. "She was only left alone for less then five minutes. Shes fine."

Another five minutes ticked by and the redhead hadn't once stopped thinking about that headline and after a while decided to check on the baby.

"Oh wow... Someone just seriously hates me today..." He muttered when he found the cradle empty.


	8. BabySitting Nightmare Part 2: Filler

**A/N: Hahahahahaha! So I've got some great news. My baby sister, who formally detested animes, cosplaying, and fanfictions of all forms is now a fan of Black Butler. :D kinda filler chapter here but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging.**

* * *

"How pissed off would you be if someone lost your only child?"

This question caught both the blonde and raven haired reapers off guard and yet they were kind of expecting this question to pop up sooner or later.

"Let me guess. You lost the baby." Will said bluntly as Ronald snickered in the background.

"Oh man! You're so dead!" Ronald said with a slightly laugh at the flustered red-head's expression.

"I didn't lose her! I just- misplaced her okay!?" The red-head yelped in annoyance as his face now envied his hair.

"Whats the difference?" Ronald popped in as he finally stopped laughing.

An angered glare was shot at the blonde as he was quick to look away, over at the always annoyed looking Will, who was now rubbing his temple.

"In answer to your earlier question Sutcliff, I'd be very crossed." He answered just as bluntly as always. "But thats just me."

"Can retired reapers still kill?" Grell asked quickly, sounded very frightened and then letting out a shrill yelp when Will nodded. "Oh this is very very bad then!"

"Why did you come here then? Shouldn't you be back at the morgue looking for the baby?" Ronald pipped up with a small smirk.

"You know I should be, the only problem is there is the possibility that shes been taken by a serial killer and I can't live with that guilt." He replied, somewhat sarcastically. "Because if it turns out she was taken, I will be dead."

For some reason the thought of the red-head's demise being a 2 month old child was just to hilarious for the two for it took them a few minutes to stop snickering and a few more minutes to agree to help looking. They started back in the child's room, which after a quick survey of the room reviled that there was a flowerbox outside of the child's window that did not look at all disturbed, and with it being the only way into the room, the idea of the child being kidnapped was canceled out but the problem of where the child was now still remained.

"OK, shes only two so she can't crawl very far." Ronald pointed out as he watched the two older reaper's search through the room. "And the crib is to high up for her to have fallen out of anything like that. Maybe a supernatural creature took her?"

The sound of Grell's soul shattering could be heard from miles away, even the head of Phantomhive picked his head up from his work at the sound.

"THAT MAKES IT ABOUT TEN TIMES WORSE IF THATS WHAT HAPPENED!" The red-head yelped in pure terror now, and almost died when he caught sight of the clock. "We've only got five minutes to find her!"

The mad dash around the room began to find the baby which ended with all three running into each other and ending up on the floor in a tangled heap which soon became a tense heap when an all to familiar laugh sounded in the doorway.

"Look Shelly, we've found your babysitters." Undertaker said with a light laugh as the three looked up.

"Wait. Wah?" Ronald spoke for the three of them as he looked up and sure enough, there was Shellobeth, riding on top on a wheelbarrow full of baby stuff.

"Now what are you three doing on the floor?" The silver-haired man asked as Grell paled quite a bit.

"Um... I have no idea?" Ronald answered as he pulled himself off of the floor and smoothed himself out, followed by the other two.

A dense silence hung in the room after this before Grell finally decided to speak up, now relieved that he wasn't going to die but was also furious.

"Wait a minute! We've been searching for that little devil all afternoon after she disappeared into thin air and it turns out she was with you- Just how!?" He demanded.

"Well, its like this." He began.

* * *

**_Flashback: _**

_Shellobeth sat in the flowerbox outside her room sniffling as she looked around. She didn't know how to get back into her bed but worse then that she didn't know where her daddy went or when he would be back if he ever came back. Just then the odd sounds of a wheel turning were heard._

_"Is that you Shelly?" An all to familiar voice asked as the wheel stopped. _

_The child looked up quickly at the sound of her name and cried lightly. _

_"Dadda!" She reached her tiny arms out and was glad when she was picked up. _

_"Aww. I missed you too Shelly." He said softly as he hugged the little girl._

_The sound of rustling paper caught both of their attentions. _

_"Is that a diaper, made out of last months paper?" He asked, somewhat surprised but then burst out laughing along with the baby. _

_'Red is silly.' The baby cooed in her baby talk as she giggled. _

* * *

When the flash back ended, all three of the reapers stood staring at the father and daughter in front of them.

"Yeah I am never fucking babysitting this kid again if shes just going to travel with you." Grell said bluntly as he left the room.

"I don't believe this." Will muttered as he shook his head and left the room after the red-head.

Ronald stood staring still, only to burst out into a fit of laughter along with the family.

"So it was last months paper!? Thats classic!"


	9. The Naming of Names Part 1

**A/N: Quick chapter. I was shuffling through my Docs and I remembered a RP where Shellobeth's last name was just flat out reaper because I didn't know if her dad had a last name or not.**

* * *

Three weeks had passed and the babysitting incident had been long since forgiven and then forgotten and life continued on. That was until the baby's full name became an issue.

As far as they all were concerned, the baby was no longer the Thompson's child, so her last name would not due at all and after a little bit of researching they discovered that her first name came from the word 'Shallow Bath' which is what her mother had tried to drown her in when she was first born and above all, the name Avery was fine but while they were making changes to the first and last name they decided to change that as well.

So there the four reapers stood, looking over the child who by now was fast asleep on a blanket in the middle of the library, trying to think of a name for her. They already knew that her last name would be Crevan, after all, it is normal for a child to have their father's last name.

So with that figured out all that was left was a middle and first name. The first name they decided to tackle last, wanting it to be perfect for the baby girl. Right now the middle name was what they were working on. Rose, Marri, Avery (Grell didn't see why her middle name had to be changed) and Bone ("Its kinda feminine.") were on their list of middles but without a first name they couldn't choose one that fit so now onto the first name.

It had to be something close to her original name for both them and the baby had gotten used to calling her Shellobeth, which brought up the question of why change it at all then. The main reason being that it held a bad meaning to it.

Creepella, Shelly, Shellobeth (Still not a good enough reason for the name to be changed, according to Grell), and Rose were the names chosen for their list and yet no one could decide which one was best. Of course the argument of the final choice being made by the child's father was brought up but even he couldn't choose so they decided to just follow in the baby's example and sleep on it for now. So thats what they did.


	10. The Naming of Names Part 2

**Mainly Shellobeth's POV since I thought it would be cute. Fairly short chapter. Shellobeth is three and a half months now but I'm thinking that a little time should pass between this chapter and the next. How old do you think she should be in the next chapter? Comment in a review.**

* * *

The baby looked around the room and then up at the bow on her hair that also served as her name tag.

'Oh boy! I look like a little present.' She thought with a giggle when she noticed something written on the pink fabric.

_**Shellobeth Mari Crevan.**_

'Oh! I wonder what the black scribbles are!' She thought, unable to read and instead passing off the words as scribbles. 'Maybe daddy knows- Oooh! Theres a ribbon on my head!'

She reached up and grabbed for the end of the ribbon and pulled. It quickly came undone and she looked it over.

'Ooooh! A wittle wormy... Imma suck on this cause it pink. And pink is usually yummy.' She concluded as she began to suck and nom on the ribbon.

"Aww!" She could hear her father from the door way. "I think she likes the name."

"Or hates it. And thats why she trying to destroy it." The redhead piped up simply.

"She probably likes the ribbon and has no idea what her name even is yet." The raven haired male added.

"Or maybe shes eating it so that her name will be inside her and apart of her forever!" All eyes suddenly fell on Ronald.

"And you all call me crazy." The silver-haired man muttered as he left the room.

"Yeah. Ron, that was kinda stupid." The crimson haired male? added, following close behind his friend.

"Why are you even here? Don't you have over time to work on?" Will added, adding a glare in Ronald's direction.

The blonde male turned deep red and slowly backed away towards the morgue's exit, leaving Will in the room with the baby. Looking both ways, he slowly shut the door and walked over to the baby and picked her up.

'Wonder if he wants some pink too!' Shellobeth thought as she held out the ribbon. He took it and wiped the drool off of it and then tied the bow back in her hair. 'Guess not.'

"Do you like your new name little one?" He asked softly, a small smiled ghosting on his lips when the baby began to giggle and clapped her hands. "Good. You know, I chose your middle name. Mari."

She looked up at him with somewhat wide eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about but by the way he was smiling like that she knew it had to be a very good thing.

"Because a beautiful child deserves a beautiful name." He cooed as he held the child close while she nuzzled into his chest.

He smiled softly once again and gently began to rock her back and forth. Suddenly however, the door to the baby's room was thrown opened. Grell stepped in, not noticing the scene in front of him yet.

"Will, should we be heading back to- Um... What are you doing?" He asked, sounding a bit confused.

The raven haired man just stared unmoving and unblinking for a moment before he slowly went back to the child's cradle and set her down.

"N-Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all." He said in his usual, all to serious tone.

"Um... OK? Well, we should probably-" He dropped his sentence quickly and turned around and promptly left.

"Well, I guess we'll be off then..." He muttered before turning to the now sleeping child. "Good bye Shellobeth... Mari Craven." He added this with a smirk as he turned and left the room.


	11. First Words

**A/N: Shellobeth is a few weeks shy of a year old now and won't be aging much after this. Now Shellobeth needs her first words, steps, and bday. They all will be done in these next few chapters. First off would be her first words. **

**P.S: I have a prompt for another story featuring Shellobeth. Its a one-shot by very silly. If you want me to write it, then say so in a review. Heres the promo:**

_**"Lizzy, what are you doing here?" Ciel asked dryly as he stared bluntly into the girl's shinning eyes. **_

_**"I came for a visit silly! And I've brought a frien- Now where has that girl gotten off to?" She said, talking more towards herself than to Ciel. Suddenly, she stopped when she say a black lump huddled in the corner. "Oh there you are you silly girl!" **_

_**She grabbed a white hand attached to the lump and pulled it forward. It suddenly straightened itself out to revile it was not a lump, rather is was a very pale, black haired girl, with piercing pink eyes. She smiled rather widely and began to giggle. Then, pulling a black circle out of her black, dress pocket, she punched it, reviling it to be a large top hat with a little skull pin attached to it and placed it on her head. **_

_**"Shellobeth. This is my fiance, Ciel. And Ciel, this is my bestest friend forever, Shellobeth." Elisabeth introduced the two, but the girl's name did not seem to be much concern to Ciel. He was more interested in figuring out why the girl seemed so damn familiar. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't think of who.**_

* * *

It had been three hours. Three hours wasted on fruitless efforts to get the child to speak her first words.

"Shes a year old. She should be able to talk by now!" Ronald huffed as he tossed the baby book he had aside.

"Perhaps we should try a different word besides Dada." Will muttered dryly as he picked up the child's discarded toy and placed it back on her lap.

"Its a two-beat word after all." Grell added and wasn't surprised when he received a harsh glare from the other.

"Maybe we could get her to try saying dad?" The blonde reaper suggested.

"Not as cute." The child's father reminded them.

"Perhaps we should wait then, until she is a tad older?" The black haired male shook his head and patted the child's head.

She giggled happily (much to her father's happiness) and smiled a rather wide smile that rivaled her parental figure's.

"You know, I always wondered what the baby would sound like." Ronald said suddenly. "I mean babies aren't really born with accents are they? Maybe she picked up on one of ours!"

"What a pity would it be if she picked up on your's, Knox." Will said bluntly, taking his hand away from the child's head.

"Coming from the man whose first funny was five seconds ago." Ronald shock back, adjusting his glasses in a mocking fashion. "Well, lets think about this logically. She is a girl, so which one of us sounds like a girl?"

"Are you daft? First off, I do, for obvious reasons." Grell began with a dramatic hair flip. "Second, what does her gender have to do with anything?"

The blonde reaper suddenly turned ruby red and began to rub the back of his head in a pitiful manner.

"Um... Rephrasing that- Which one of us does she spend more time with."

"Well, her father obviously." Will began, gesturing to the man who now sat off to the sidelines, watching with his child as the men bickered over this silly topic.

"And possibly you." Grell added with a smirk. "I've seen your secret playtime with her. Its so adorable to watch!"

All the redness from Ronald's face was suddenly replaced with blue as he fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as he laughed. The suddenly angry raven haired male, picked the blonde up by his collar and began to shake him.

"And what is so amusing about that?" He demanded with each shake.

"Will! Stop being to mean to him!" Grell demanded as he hugged the man from behind, though this did not seem to phase him.

During this argument, the trio did not see the two Crevans leaving the room and headed in the direction of the baby's room. The baby was now fast asleep.

"Don't be upset Shelly, you'll talk when you're ready." Her father said gently as he placed her into her crib.

He smiled and kissed the girl's head before turning and leaving the room. However, the baby suddenly woke up and looked around the room. She began to feel scared now that she was all alone.

'I-I know! There was a word! And I always got a lotta 'ttention whenever they say it!' The baby thought as she opened her mouth and tried as to speak.

"D-d-da-da- DADA!" She called suddenly, and within an instant, all four men were suddenly back in her room, all were gathered around her.

"I didn't see that first word coming. But her voice. I kinda guessed." Ronald remarked as the child spoke again.

"Dadda!" She said happily, snuggling into her black sheets, her voice sounding like a feminine and squeaky version of said man, not to anyone's surprise.


	12. Starting with a Single Step

**A/N: First Steps is being told by Shellobeth's point of view. Next chapter is: Teething, which is kinda jump backwards. And after this, this is the final drabble before the story finally gets back to the plot at hand.**

* * *

_This isn't a very nice thing. The boys are being such meanies today and I don't know why! One second I'm just crawling around of the floor, and the next I'm being pulled up by my hands and dropped on my bottom, which might I add really really hurts! _

"Come on Shelly. You can do it!"_ Ronny says but I'm confused by what he means I can do. _

"She can already stand up in her crib, walking shouldn't be to difficult._" Will says as he walked over to me and picked me up and did the same thing Ronny did! _

_'No no! Stop dropping me!' I squealed but I don't think they understand me. _

"Shes getting frustrated, just leave her alone."_ Red mutters, which surprises me cause Red is being really really smart today, but I don't have time to keep thinking about this. _

_I crawl back over to my blanket and lay down on it and hope to get a nap but I'm suddenly being picked up and moved. _

_'Wh-what the big idea!?' I yelped as I kicked by tired arms and legs and was finally set down. _

"She just needs a nap." _I here daddy say, well no dumb I need a nap! Now stop dropping me!_

_Finally a good nappy seems to be coming on, one with my favorite dream of bunnies and more bunnies and another bunny and cookies an- Wait a second! I smell cookies! _

_I open my eyes and look around the room for the source of the cookies and I find them on a plate in the middle of the room. I don't know what I did, but I'm suddenly at the cookies really really fast and I'm suddenly being picked up, but not dropped this time. I was picked up by a very happy looking Will as the others gather around. They all look exited as daddy hands me a cookie, which I take and chew on it and it melts in my mouth and tastes really really yummy! _

_I don't know what they're so happy about. Something about Running or walking. I don't know, I'm just happy I got a cookie and thats all._


	13. Thats when you know

**A/N: Double Update time! Now I'm beginning to introduce other characters to this story to thicken the plot, Like adding flour to soup. Hopefully I'm able to handle this well. It still follows its cute and fluffy trail like the drabbles had, but if you remember in Baby Sitting Nightmare, a lot of people thought it was kind of mean that only the three were freaking out so in this part of the plot, her father starts to become overprotective of her, especially when an odd woman visits the morgue, which as we all know, her presence will cause a large tidal wave in the story which will lead it back to the plot I had originally intended. So without further delay. WGTC! Here we go!**

**Warning: Slight OOC and Friendship love (NOT PAIRING) between two. But I want to show how this child does effect each of them.**

* * *

She has long red hair tied back into several braids, ending in a bun. Her sharp red lips match her hair, eyes, and clothing perfectly and hardly loose their sharpness as she speaks in a somewhat broken tone.

"He was such a loving man, and we were expecting our first child together when it happened..." She concludes what ever it had been she was saying, pulling a handcloth out from her sling and wiping her teary eyes with them. "I would want that much to be included on the headstone as well."

Sounds of a pen scratching at paper answered her request as the silver-haired man wrote it down, stopping only once to turn and look at a small coffin that was laid beside him. Inside was a raven-haired infant, about six months old and already able to walk on her own and yet was powerless to ward off oncoming naps whenever they should come.

"I-Is she-?" The woman began when she finally took notice of the child but was quickly answered with a shake of the head.

"No. She is not dead." He almost sounded a tad scornful that she would even think such a thing. "Far from."

"O-Oh... Is she yours?" The woman's voice sounded a tad lighter now, like all of her earlier sadness had been replaced with hopeful curiosity.

"Yes." It was a straightforward answer, which seemed very uncharacteristic of the retired reaper but at this point in time, he could really care less.

Really, on any other given day this would have been a normal funeral planning but today was different. It was the first time the little one had been burned in over six months. It was an accident though, the candle burnt a little to close to its holder where the child had been watching it curiously, she reached out her hand when no one was looking and then let out a terrible screech as the flame licked at her down-turned palm, just an hour before this strange woman shows up and begins to tell the already troubled parent about her late child.

"O-oh... Is her mother around?" It was as if this woman composed of pure red had been the flame that burned his daughter and was here now in physical form to purposely weigh on his nerves.

"No." He began but then quickly added. "Vanished and is hopefully dead."

The woman took a slow step back, but then took another closer towards the cradle. A dead silence fell over the room and an awkward tension arouse with each step the woman took until she was right next to the sleeping child, a look of hazy and unfocused love was held in them as her red fingernails brushed the surface of Shellobeth's pink cheek. The tips lightly grazed the pink, but must have been a bit to rough as the child suddenly let out a squeak.

"Shes beautiful... May I hold her?" The woman all but whispered as the child was lifted quickly from her cradle by an over protective father.

She stretched out her hand and took the baby's bandaged one into her grip and held fast onto it, determined to get the baby into her arms, or at least that is how it had appeared.

"Only for a minute. I never got to hold my own child!" She practically cried out, almost desperately.

Just then, the child's eyes flickered open and she let out a loud cry, mainly due to the pain she now felt from pressure being on her burns, but also due to the tightness of the hold from both of the people holding her.

"Oh the poor girl. Here little one, let aunty Red take care of you." She took the child from the bewildered parent, who was still trying to think of a good thing to say in a situation like this but found himself at a loss for words.

The woman cradled the child with much care and kissed her tiny forhead and instantly the child calmed down, not because the woman was charming and her voice was soft as velvet, but because use of the name Red confused the child. She knew she had a friend who she called Red, and that he wore red and had red hair and matching nails, but the lack of glasses and the woman's red eyes over green really threw the child off.

"See, now that wasn't so bad now was it?" Madame Red cooed softly as she handed the child back to its father. "I wish I could have a beautiful child of my own to take care of. But sadly I am unable to bare them..."

Truth be told, the only man in the room knew exactly what torture that was like. Unable to produce your own children, but unlike this woman, having three younger Co workers and an adopted princess took away a good deal of this pain until none was left. Hm, maybe that might end up being something that this woman might do to relieve her own pain.

"Such lucky people..." Her voice pulled him from his train of thought. "Never take this little one's life for granted... Once shes gone and out of your life there will be no getting her back."

That comment stung worse then the burns on his daughter's hand must have because unlike the child who only yelped, the parent felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. A quick glance at the clock suddenly gave him an excuse to rid this woman from his home.

"Awful late isn't it?" He questioned her suddenly, causing her to look up at that same clock.

"Oh... I suppose it is. I really must be going then. Good night all." And with that, she bowed her head and slowly turned on her heels and quickly existed the building.

"What a bitch." He muttered as he looked down at his blinking child.

"Dada!" She squealed happily as she waved around her bandaged hand and then yawned into it before drifting back to sleep.

"You're right Shelly. It is probably time for bed." He smiled weakly at the sleeping infant before carrying her into her own bedroom and laying her down for sleep, then returned to his work at hand.

The woman's husband still needed to be prepared for his funeral, as well as the tombstone but before he could even get to that the door swung open and in came the red head whose presence always seemed welcomed in the house since the baby's arrival.

"Evening Adrian." He started with a smile but then frowned when he saw the look of distress on his friend's face. "Whats wrong? Wheres that smile I'm used to seeing?"

"Its, been a long day." Undertaker muttered, walking completely passed Grell and into the other room.

"Seems like it. Something happen?" The redhead casually strode behind him with his arms clasped loosely behind his back.

"Just an accident. With the baby." If the explanation didn't creep the red-head out, then the almost normal sounding voice did.

"W-what sort of accident?" Grell questioned, for once voicing concern for the child's life.

"She burned her left palm with a candle." A dim silence filled the room, other than the scraping of random tools being picked up and then set back down.

"Oh." Relief was present in the red-head's voice. "From the way you said it, you made me think she died or somethi-"

A dreadful silence fell back over the two as they stood staring at one another. The pain of the words weighed heavy on both of them for. After a few minutes, the book Adrian had been writing in was closed, and he spoke again.

"A woman came in today. She lost both her husband and child." The silver-haired man began suddenly. "So I understand her going a tad crazy over the sight of Shelly... Eh, kinda hurt my pride a bit. Some of the things she said."

The red head shook his head, chuckled softly, and walked over to his friend to hug him around the shoulders.

"I don't even think that was a complete thought. You should rest my friend. And tell me all about your troubles tomorrow when I'm more interested." He smiled brightly and tightened the hug but frowned when his friend appeared to be un-phased. "Stop that! Only Will is allowed to be unhappy all the time!"

A sudden bow of his friend's head is what really freaked the red-head out. Oh shit, this was serious. Quickly the red head walked to the kitchen section of the morgue, dragging the other behind him. As soon as they got there, he let go of him and rushed about, looking for the right supplies to make tea.

"This may take a while, so how about you tell me about what happened now?" The red-head called over his shoulder as he got a tea kettle and filled it with water. "Like why her burn was such a concern, she isn't even left handed. At least I don't think she is..."

"She is, and it upset me because when I first met her she was covered in burns inflicted from unloving parents an-"

"And you actually love her as your own so it bugs you that technically you did the same thing her parents did even though it was an accident and the child had burned herself." Grell finished up simply, turning his head for only a second.

At first, he thought about staying silent so that Undertaker could finish his story but then decided he already knew what he was going to say and would just finish the sentence for him.

"And that loving parent coming in today who just lost her child made you feel frightened at the thought of loosing your own child?" A nod answered, and even with his back turned, Grell still felt it. "Well, remember that Shelly is a reaper herself now. She can't die unless shes cut by her own scythe which she does not have yet."

"In a nutshell." The older reaper muttered dryly as he was handed a beaker by the red-head.

"Ooooh! Thats just too cute!" The red-headed reaper squealed happily.

"What is?" If his hair wasn't in his eyes, he'd be rolling them.

"The fact that your beating yourself up over all of this." He frowned before taking a sip from his own tea. "I'm just realizing how mean that sounded, but it is cute how you're handling this whole father thing."

A sigh answered this comment and there were suddenly frowns all around before the red-head finally spoke again.

"Look, I know you probably feel like a bad parent now, and believe me you're not the only one that is A) going through this alone, and B) feeling this way. But the fact is that is how you know you're doing something right when you feel that much concern over your child over something small like a small cut or burn. Being a parent isn't preventing them from being hurt, its being there to pick them back up when they fall." He smiled softly and folded his arms back behind his back. "End rant."

The silver-haired man smirked a little bit at the sound of this, hardly able to believe that the red-head was even saying this.

"You came up with this yourself?" He questioned with a wider smirk.

"Nah, Will had a calendar with quotes or something. Maybe it was in a doctor's office." Grell squinted, as if trying to call back the memory but quickly gave up and smiled. "Feeling better now?"

"Actually. I think I am." A signature giggle ended the sentence and assured both that everything was alright now. "Oh, and I forgot to ask why you came here in the first place."

"You know what. I forgot the moment I entered the place." The red-head's eyes suddenly drifted up to the second clock mounted on the wall. "Hm, one in the morning already? Well, I think now would be as good a time as ever for rest."

"Can't. To much work to do." Undertaker muttered with a shake of the head. "Might as well get it done now while Shelly is asleep."

"Just do it in the morning. I can babysit the little one so she won't be a bother." He strode off in the direction of a coffin and like all the other members of the house, got inside it.

"What are you doing?" The older man couldn't help but laugh at this.

"Its one in the morning and I'm going to bed." The red-head replied simply. "Oh. and I'm spending the night, now go to bed and quit bugging me."

A sudden cry erupted from the baby's room, causing both male's to groan as the sound assaulted their ears.

"OK, take care of the baby. And then go to sleep." Grell muttered with his hands over his ears.

"I thought you were supposed to be taking care of her." The child's father giggled as he patted the other's head.

"Tomorrow. I said I would take care of her tomorrow." He corrected him, waving his arm above his head where the hand was.

"Morning. You said morning, and its already one in the morning already." Undertaker pointed out.

"But I'm sleeepy!" Grell complained as he rolled over onto his side.

"So am I." He giggled softly at this response.

"Shes your baby!" The red-head said as he sat up rather quickly.

"Da!" A small voice pulled their attention away from each other as they both looked down at the crawling baby, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she crawled over to her dad and tugged at the bottom of his cloak. "Dada!"

"See? Its you she wants." Grell muttered as he laid back down and curled up for rest, not noticing the two had already left the room for much needed rest (and for Shelly's case, a much needed bottle and attention).


	14. Mother May I?

**A/N: Me: -Sitting at lunch with my friend- Wait. I just realized, Madame Red lost her child and husband... and the Crevan's consist of a child and father...**

**Alexia: So are you going to pair them together?**

**Me: O.o Damn it! I didn't intend it! And possibly not! Jack the Ripper has to happen, remember?**

**Anywho: A tad OOC but not really and it is explained that they are just tired. And Will makes an appearance to drop some logic on these two.**

* * *

The funeral took place that following Sunday. It was a simple outdoor event, with only a few friends and family members of the deceased present. The only three who had no former relations with the family was a funeral director, his infant child, and the red-headed friend of the two. The three stood out oddly from the others, dawning both oddly colored hair and umbrellas to keep the hot sun away.

"I am sorry for your loss, sister." A woman remarked to the widow, standing a short distance away from the grave.

"I-It will be OK..." Angelina whispered, her voice cracking a tad as a fresh sob threatened to wreck her body.

Her sister put a comforting hand on her shoulder before she spotted the Odd Trio and crossed over to them, the black prim, with a torn lace covered seemed to catch her interest. As she approached, she found herself pearing into one of the holes in the lace to see the pale child inside.

"Oh, what an adorable baby." Rachel whispered as she studied the child closer.

"Thank you." The silver-haired reaper responded with a soft smile.

"Oh, you must be her father." The blonde said, turning to look up at him, really having no idea what to say.

He nodded and an odd and yet somehow comfortable silence filled the already stilled air. Finally, after a few more minutes, Rachel spoke yet again.

"You and your wife are very blessed to have such a wonderful child." She said randomly, her tone sounding unsure even.

"I am not married." He informed her stiffly, catching on to her true intentions.

"Oh my..." She was quiet for a long while before nodding and returning to her sister's side.

He couldn't keep his attention on the two women for long however, for Shellobeth let out a loud yawn and a soft whimper. This could only mean that she had woken up from her nap and now wanted attention.

"That was a stupid thing to say you know." Grell commented as he took the liberty to pick up the child and cradle her close. "Now she'll try to play match maker with you two."

"What makes you say that?" For the second time that week, Undertaker sounded annoyed.

"Its simple. Angelina just lost a husband and a child. And look who has no wife, but a child." Grell mused as he gently pinched Shellobeth's foot and tugged at it, causing the child to giggle and coo happily.

An amused laugh left the older man as he took into consideration what the other had said. It was possible that that was the woman's intentions but even if they were, it was not going to happen. The laugh was copied by the baby seconds later, as if she had taken the same thought into consideration and found it equally silly.

"Even Shelly thinks thats a stupid idea." A kindhearted laugh came from both men and another one from the baby, followed by yet another comfortable silence.

It was broken this time, by the woman of the hour herself. Angelina.

"It really was a beautiful service... Thank you for this." She spoke as oddly as her sister, and both the silver and the red-head exchanged glanced before turning back to her.

"You're welcome. It-" Undertaker cut himself off, refraining from talking highly of someone's funeral.

"I mean it though." Angelina began gently as her gaze shifted over to the baby, still in her friend's arms. "It truly lightened my mood... These passed few days have been filled with nothing but misery."

A scoff came from Grell as he shifted the baby from a cradle hold, to over his shoulder so he could rub her back.

"That seems to be a trait." He muttered dryly as the baby gurgled loudly next to his ear. "Any of these Crevan's can make the saddest of people smile... Or wet their pants, depending on the time of day."

He paused and suddenly held the baby out at a distance and made an annoyed face.

"Speaking of which." Grell muttered as Angelina laughed loudly, making it sound somewhat painful when she did it.

"The poor lamb." She said in between giggles as she slowly moved closer to the baby and quickly plucked her from the red-head's arms. "It isn't fun to be sitting in wet clothes now is it? And I suppose you are right, I always feel so happy around those two."

Shellobeth did something odd that neither reaper had seen her do before. She raised her arms up to either side of her face and made the oddest of sounds, between a grunt and a gurgle. Taking this as a sign that the baby was happy, Angelina giggled and hugged the child closer.

"We should probably take her home and change her." Angelina said as she looked up at the parent and friend and smiled.

"We?" Both Undertaker and Grell responded, one eye twitched from both heads.

"Well, I supposed just you two but if at any time you need a babysitter I would be happy to watch her." The sad woman who had been standing just feet away just an hour earlier was suddenly replaced by a woman who was very happy with life.

"No no, that is alright." Grell responded quickly. "We have more than enough babysitters."

"Very well. But perhaps, we could meet again, the three of us." She smiled softly and nodded as she turned on her heels and slowly walked back towards her sister with quick steps, looking over her shoulder once to send a quick wave to the three as she walked.

* * *

As the three reapers walked back towards the morgue, a now uncomfortable silence hung in the air. The baby, who had fallen asleep despite being wet, could be heard cooing softly in her prim as it gently rocked against the earth.

"You know, I don't trust that Angelina." Grell suddenly spoke, coughing dully into his fist.

"Why is that?" Undertaker's tone showed that he was in complete agreement with the other.

"She seems a bit- Mental." Grell began slowly as he pondered over what to say next. "Two family members are down and instantly she begins search for their replacements."

"Doesn't make her crazy, more or less lonely and depressed." The silver-haired reaper muttered as he peaked through one of the holes in the prim to make sure Shellobeth was safe.

"I suppose. But I still hope we do not see her again." Grell muttered, a hint of sadness apparent in his voice.

It took a moment to process, but after a brief looking over of their previous conversations, it was apparent what was upsetting the other.

"You're afraid she might be your replacement?" Undertaker asked softly.

"Well, its a relief I don't have to say that out loud. But yes." Grell began, spitting on the earth as if spitting the remains of those unsaid words out. "I like coming over to visit the bab- Never thought I'd say that, but anywho, if shes over there then there would be no need for me."

"There always will be." Well, heres a tone the man never used. Serious. "You're family. And you can never replace family."

"Since when did you get so sentimental?" Another voice suddenly piped up from behind them.

The two turned to find William standing behind them, his face holding no emotion what so ever now.

"You know. I haven't a single clue." Undertaker responded, looking surprised.

"I think it was after Shellobeth arrived that we all began to change." Grell stated matter-of-factually. "Shes draining all the fun out of us."

"What are you doing here anyway Will?" This question seemed to throw the raven-haired reaper off guard.

What was he doing here again? Sutcliff had already finished his work, including over time (which was odd), and Will had already finished his feild work over half an hour ago so he should have probably headed back to the Dispatch by now, and with these acting so normal lately, it wasn't like he had to keep them out of trouble.

It finally hits him after about five minutes of standing there, staring, and looking like a complete idiot. The baby was in fact draining the fun out of everyone, and seemed to be storing much of it in herself and was getting herself into all types of trouble. Not just with candles, but other's paperwork, hair ribbons, coffins, her food, even a filing cabinet at one point.

"I came to visit the child." He replied bluntly, adjusting his glasses. "To make sure she keeps you two out of trouble."

All three of them stared at each other, before bursting into a familiar round of laughter, returning once again to their former selves for a little while.

"I can't wait until shes an adult and doesn't need us." Grell muttered bluntly, somewhat sourly.

"Aww, but she makes such a nice company." Undertaker cooed to the small child. "And shes more fun than you two."

"Well Willy would be more fun if he just got that pole out of his arse and smiled every once in a while." Grell shot back. "And I would be as fun as ever if I didn't have to worry about that little ankle biter constantly trying to get herself killed!"

"How am I dragged into all of this?" Will asked suddenly but was ignored.

"Shes a reaper now, shes naturally attracted to death." Her father informed the other as he quickly swiped her out of the prim and held her up for the two to see.

"She is not. You know, I should have just dropped her off at an adoption center when I first found her." Grell said with a roll of the eyes.

"You know, I have a coffin in your size if you keep talking like that." His laugh was more threatening than silly.

"You also have one in the babies size if she keeps acting the way she does." The red-head shot back before taking out a compact mirror and looking at himself in it. "Good God, shes draining the life from me."

"Well thats what happens between child and mother." Undertaker responded with a small laugh.

"I am not that child's mother!" Grell yelped, offended as he put the mirror away.

"Technically, you did give her life." It was Will who had said this, a smirk ghosting on his lips.

"Doesn't make me her mother!" He shot back. "Besides, I hate children! Everything about them is simply dreadful!"

"And yet you spared this little one." Adrian (Hes acting like his former self, might as well use his former name) reminded him, all but shoving the baby at his face.

"How did we even get on this conversation? One second we are talking about some bitch who hit on you, and now we're talking about this child's parentage." Grell all but yelled as he flailed his arms around above his head.

"You were hit on?" Will asked suddenly, in an attempt to change the subject and prevent the red-head from flying back off the handle.

"Yes. By a very odd woman." Adrian responded, pulling his child back to his chest and held her there.

"Who we are never going to see again ever and we are never going to talk about her again!" Grell suddenly cut in, folding his arms.

"But if the relationship did work out, then the baby would have a mother and you wouldn't have to worry about her." Will pointed out bluntly.

The red-head stood still for a moment, taking into consideration what had just been said before walking over to his friend with the baby in his arms and plucked the child up and began to stomp off in the direction of the morgue.

"Didn't the baby piss herself fifteen minutes ago?" He muttered under his breath as he walked, ignoring the other two who followed behind him.

Meanwhile, the baby yawned and rubbed her eye as she hugged the arm holding her tightly, knowing very well that she was in safe hands now.


	15. Black and Red

_Pale long black nailed fingers pushed silver hair away from green and yellow eyes, it has been awhile since the incident that had thrust him into parenthood. He did not mind one bit, it was refreshing from time to time to have a living guest. That living guest, a small girl named Shellobeth, was currently in another room, curled up in bed more then likely asleep or if she was awake nursing the fresh burns on her arms. The burns in question were the results of a fire that had first brought the two together. A story that for the sake of Shellobeth was never spoken of._

_A soft shiver was heard coming from the other room caused the reaper to look up from the corpse he was currently working on and glance over at the open door. It was empty, and for the past hour it seemed as though it would remain empty. Turning back to his work, another small sound interrupted it yet again._

_"S-sir?" A small, horse voice cut through the silence of the room._

_He looked up again and saw the child currently at thought. She was a thin one, with skin bright red in color though by now most of the red was replaced with pale white as it slowly scabbed over and peeled off. What ever was left of her once blonde hair, now singed black from flames had been tied back in a rather odd bun at the top of her head. Shellobeth's once blue eyes, as she had told him they were that color for some reason were not as red as her skin. In an odd sense, she almost looked like a red skeleton wearing an oversized black dress._

_"What is it dear?" He asked, slowly returning to the body in front of him._

_She slowly took a step into the room, wincing slightly as the cold tile touched her foot._

_"I-i-i just had a question..." She folded her arms behind her back and looked up slowly. "Today in the shop. What was it the owner had called me?"_

_She sounded confused and a bit scared._

_"My daughter." He responded, still at work._

_She took three quick steps over to him and peered over the table. Her face held the same confusion as her voice had. After a few moments of silence she sighed again._

_"It was only a silly mistake of his." She uttered softly, reaching up to rub her head._

_"Do you know what adoption is Shellobeth?" He asked, looking slowly up at her._

_"N-no I don't believe so." She said softly, playing with the hem of her shirt. "Is it a good thing?" _

_"Well that all depends..." He took a breath and then turned to face her fully. "Do you like being here Shelly?"_

_The child gasped as then was silent as she thought it over. Did she like it here? Well, she did enjoy the company of the older man, and after her parents abandoned her, she hadn't really had a family for quite a while. _

_"Yes. I do enjoy living here. So may I assume that adoption is a good thing?" She asked boldly, leaning all her weight on her leg that was less burnt than the other. _

_"You may." The silver-haired man chuckled as he picked up the little girl and placed her on the stool next to the metal table. "Now how about papa shows you how he prepares a body for a funeral, hm?"_

_Shellobeth giggled and folded her legs under her and leaned in a bit closer, her skin suddenly seeming more grayish pale than red. _

_"Sounds fun!" She giggled but then slowly began to fade away to black..._

* * *

"What an odd dream." Was the first thing out of the red-head's lips when perfectly shaped, almond eyes fluttered open that night.

It hadn't been the first dream that was like that, but ever since the incident at the funeral, those two were almost constantly at mind.

"Those dreams always seem so lonely when its just those two-" There was a pause, and a new thought soon began to take shape.

There _was_ always a third person in those dreams, but who was it? The body the two were working on. The body that seemed to bind the two as family in each dream.

"Is it possible..." Another pause, as eyes soon searched for any piece that contained the time and soon landed on a grandfather clock reading '8:00' sharp. "The morgue is bound to be opened by now... I'm sure a visit wouldn't do much harm."

The dream was soon thought over again and yet **another **thought took its form in the crimson-haired mind.

**Red.**

That was always a present factor in each dream as well. The child would either be red in the skin, or the body on the table would be draped in a red blanket, or at one point, their fingernails were red (Note: Both Crevan's have black nails), but why red? Why did they always act like they did not know each other until red coloring would come into the dream? She referred to him as 'sir' for crying out loud!

"It could be symbolic..." The voice whispered as red nails began to comb through red hair and a sigh escaped red painted lips. "But of what... Perhaps the one at the funeral... Or me even..."

A soft blush painted cheeks as the figure slowly got out of bed and began to dress with the intentions of visiting the family commonly draped in black. What an odd and yet somehow perfect mix those two colors seemed to be now, just as they had in all the past dreams.

"Black and red, Ash and blood. What an odd little mix that all spells death... But then again, with death brings life. And with a mother, brings up a child." A frown soon replaced the smile as a jacket was finally thrown on. "It seems I am playing match maker with myself..."


	16. And Then She Said

**A/N: WOULD YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!?: Hey guys! PD6 here with some news! OK, so way back in the day while coming up with this version of the story, there was actually a 'What If' Pocket dimension in which little Shelly is biological and this actually took place way back there, like towards the beginning of the whole 'Legend' thing. And shes still smaller than Grell, Will, and Ronald and yes this story has a pairing but Shelly will at least be three in it at the start. Do you guys want me to write a what-if chapter or another story like this one with more of a plot focusing on the Crevan family more than the other three and how Adrian (Yes that is his name in this story and will not change)is actually worried about how Shelly will be adjusting in the human world due to her odd behavior in the Dispatch. It will also focus on why the three focus characters in WGTC act the way they do now. So leave a review on what you want me to do :D**

**P.S: Sebby will be in this story but as a human at first and yes he will know the Crevans. **

* * *

**Flash-Date on the non-mini-top: **

* * *

Even the child in the room could sense the awkward tension filling the sit-room that day, and even she froze mid-suck of her bottle to glance up at her red-haired friend to study his usually calm face. Rage. Well hidden by emerald and yet somehow magnified by thick, red, square frames.

_'Someone gonna get really really hurt.'_ The baby cooed in baby lingo, familiar with the phrase by the number of times her blonde friend had uttered it during the other's past visits.

She let out a yell yelp/coo as she felt her friend boldly stand up and adjust where she was in his arms before taking two steps forward, his eyes focused on the one in front of him.

"Oh, hello there." His voice was just like the rage in his eyes, masked perfectly by a sweet tone and yet somehow apparently by the overall speed of it all.

"Hello." The red-headed woman spoke as she took a step forward, her own face mirrored the other red-heads as they stared daggers at one another.

"To what do we owe this visit?" Grell tried to sound calm but this sentence ended up sounding more like 'Get the fuck out of here!'

"I did say I would babysit anytime." Angeline said sternly and somewhat humorously as her fingers pinched at the black material that was covering them.

"Well we don't need you at the moment." There was that unfriendliness that had been present all along beginning to bubble over.

"We?" She questioned as she looked around the room for added effect. "But you are on your own at the moment."

"We as in me and the baby!" Green eyes were cast down onto the little baby's forehead as pink looked back up. "I like to think of her as my equal. Shes like a little mini-me."

"Poor lamb." It was muttered under her breath but the divine being caught , heck, was actually waiting for the comment as his eyes snapped back up and locked with hers.

"Say something bitch!?" He demanded as he held the child in a protective manner, her face now pressed against his chest.

It wasn't like she minded though, his heart-beat was always a comfort to her. It was after all, the first one she had heard when she had opened her eyes on that fateful night and it calmed her as the burning feel of air filling her collapsed lungs and her stomach acid gnawing at itself as bitterly cold air cut and sliced at her already burnt skin began to attack her with terrible pain. That and she liked her friend's scent. Like roses and sun. A nice combination that fit him well.

"Nothing. Nothing. Its just that she is a child, and to be your equal." She paused as the emerald eyed reaper's ears perked for the final insult. "What does that really say about you?"

Clutching the child even closer, his heart-beat a mild a minute with anger and a million things running through his mind at the moment, everything just seemed to be so timed, and not in his favor. It happened far to quickly and there was no plausible way for it to have been prevented and it all started with the front door opening.

"Bitch!" The word rang out, but not from the red-heads or from the one opening the door.

Two hearts stopped and dropped where they were and one woman had the wind knocked out of her as the door had flown open and struck her. All eyes, two green, and one red, landed on the little girl, her arms waving rapidly above her head.

"Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!" She continued to coo out madly, not noticing the angry looks, one pointed at her, and the other pointed at the one holding her.

"Why is my daughter swearing?" An annoyed voice asked as Grell's heart stopped yet again, realizing he didn't even see who had opened the door.

"Daddy!" Shellobeth's cries of that awful word were finally doused as she found a new person to stare at and call out too.

"Because she is this man's mini-me apparently." Angeline answered as she stepped out of range of the door and took the child from the stunned reaper.

"Oh that poor lamb." The father of the child muttered behind his hand, which was now covering his annoyed face.

"Odd, that was the same thing I said." The widow giggled as she rubbed the child's head. "I guess that makes you my equal."

Rage returned to the younger reaper as he opened his mouth to speak but the glare he received from his friend promptly shut him up. Shellobeth watched the scenes of her elder's faces change and found it all to amusing as she began to giggle loudly and kicked her tiny feet. Two adults smiled fondly at her and then the tension in the room cleared and a few questions soon sprouted into both reaper's minds and one answer formed in the human's.

"I hope you don't mind me dropping by." Angeline began as she stroked a hand through Shellobeth's curls and smiling softly. "But as your friend has said, you two seem to lighten any mood."

"Kiss-up." Grell mock-coughed into his hand as the woman shot him a dirty glare.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know your boyfriend wasn't allowed to have friends." Angeline growled as the two began to shoot daggers again.

"H-he isn't my boyfriend! And he won't be yours either!" The feeling of jealously soon bloomed thickly into the room as the two family members watched the two bicker.

"Oh, this is gonna be good." Undertaker laughed as he looked down at Shellobeth. "I can tell."

_'So can I!' _Shellobeth giggled as she pulled out a cookie from her jumper pocket and split it with her parents as they watched.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Angeline growled angrily. "I only want to be friends. And if anything happens then it happens!"

"Which it won't because you are a crazy bitch!" Grell all but screamed back as his fists balled up. "And because I care about my friend and you got your first husband killed so I don't trust you with him!"

"How dare you!" Angeline cried out as she ran to attack him with a slap. "At least I had a husband! Y-You bastard!"

"That. That is a form of foul play." Adrian muttered as he looked down at his confused child. "That isn't a very nice way of playing."

_'Foul play bad... Got it!' _Shellobeth thought as she giggled happily.

"So you're gay?" Grell asked, no humor was at all sensed in his voice as he narrowly dodged the slap.

"Bastard!" Shellobeth cried out as she waved her hands above her head again and her father facepalmed yet again.

"OK. Thats enough you two." Annoyance was back in the father's voice.

"She/He started it!" Two cries rang out as two accusing fingers pointed.

Yeah, didn't work in third grade. Isn't going to work now. Speaking of third grade, at that moment the door to the morgue opened yet again and in stepped William. Though concern wasn't present in his features, it was present in his voice.

"Is everything alright? I heard yell-" He cut himself off as he caught sight of the two squabbling red-heads. "Whats going on?"

"Bitch!" Shellobeth pointed to Angeline and used her other hand to point at Grell. "Bastard!"

"Oh God, no..." Will mumbled as he too facepalmed, and then went over to the father and daughter and picked up the enraged raven-head.

"What are you doing here Will?" The silver-haired reaper asked, ignoring the argument going on behind him.

"Well, I finished my work for the day early and came over to suggest we take Shellobeth out to lunch." He said calmly as he cradled the now over-joyed baby.

He then set the baby down and held her tiny hands with two fingers as he helped her to toddle around a bit before she could do it without his help.

"She is able to walk on her own now, maybe she would like to go to the park." Will finished as he watched the child stamp around the two.

"Well that sounds lovely and I am sure it would make Shelly very happy." Undertaker said happily as he too watched Shellobeth.

"Bastard!" She said suddenly, pointing at William and tilting her head to the side and smiling widely.

"The sooner we get out of here the better." Will muttered as he opened the front door and the two Crevans left and then him, leaving the two red-heads behind to finish their argument.


	17. Just a Second We

**A/N: OK, so I feel kinda bad that I ended the drabbles just to write an actual plot so I decided to begin a trilogy called Burn. This one is part one: Infant stage. The next one has been posted as a drabble series: Whats Going On Anway? and the third one being planned is an AU called: As Clouds Fade. The only problem is I don't know how to start that third one so if you have any ideas, please send them in for that fic :D**

**Anywho, based on a song I heard in the car on the way to my stepmom's house! Here is chapter 17 of WGTC!: A second we're not broken just bent.**

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It was one word. Just one, and yet that death-darting word was like poison on the young child's lips as she spoke it. Deep regret filled the adults present in the area with her as she spoke it and made them regret ever taking her to the park where she had first heard the word.

_Mama?_

It was such an innocent word, but to the oddly colored people at the park, it was most vulgar than the words Bitch and Bastard that the child had already spoken earlier. Lime colored eyes darted slowly to the source of the word and found that it hadn't been the child who was calling for its mother earlier, rather it came from the red eyed child they knew very well as Shellobeth.

"Mama! Mama!" She began to almost chant happily at the sound of the new word as she sat in the grass and began to pull it out of the ground.

She suddenly looked confused as she began to piece together that Red-lady was Bitch, Red-friend was bastard, Silver-haired man was daddy, and blonde-friend was Ronny, but who was mama?

Turning her head suddenly, she soon discovered that mama was a woman who held her own dark haired child as lovingly as Shellobeth's father would hold her. This made her very confused but also sad.

_'So a mama is a girl daddy... But aren't I supposed to have one then?' _Looking over at the two other reapers and seeing how upset they looked, she figured something else out. _'Does that mean daddy is supposed to have a girl too?'_

She pouted suddenly and tugged up more grass in a fit of frustration that many saw as just playing.

_'But he got me already! No mama! It bad idea!'_ She paused and looked back over at the woman and child from earlier.

A tall, blonde man with green eyes rushed over to them and hugged them both tightly and kissed the woman's lips happily. The woman smiled and kissed the child's cheek after this as the child squealed happily.

_'Bleh! That yucky!' _She paused when another thought struck her. _'Mimmys are supposed to make both daddy and baby happy aren't they? But we already happy! We don't need one!'_

She sighed as she tried to make sense of this all but in the end could only come up with one solution: _I will ask daddy!_

Getting to her chubby legs as fast as she could, she plucked a flower from the ground and toddled over to her father and held it up. He smiled softly and picked both her and the flower up.

"What have you got there Shelly?" He asked softly as he took the flower from her.

"Fower." Shellobeth as she rubbed her tiny eyes but then remembered the question at hand. "Mama?"

If there had ever been a time that Shellobeth had seen her father go without a smile, now was that time.

"She keeps saying that." Will muttered as he rubbed his forehead. "Do you think she is trying to tell us something?"

"I don't like to think of it that way Will." It was the voice of Adrian Crevan that answered, a tad more serious and smooth compared to his regular tone.

"I understand its an upsetting subject, but it is a bridge we have to cross." Will reminded him as he stepped forward and took the baby from him.

_'Upsetting? That's not a good word!' _Shellobeth gasped suddenly, grabbing both of their attention.

"Its been almost 500 years and I'm still not over it." Adrian muttered sourly as he twirled the flower around his thin hands.

_'500? That's a big number!' _ Shellobeth giggled suddenly and smiled brightly when this seemed to cheer up her father and friend.

"Perhaps she is just picking up on new words." Will said suddenly as if attempting to change the subject.

"Hopefully." Undertaker's usual tone was returning as a giggle hung on the end of that sentence. "Well that escalated quickly."

"Dadda?" Shellobeth asked suddenly as she reached out for him and Will returned her.

"Yes, princess?" He answered, though he knew she didn't have enough words in her vocabulary to answer him.

"Fower?" She pointed to the flower still in his hands as he handed it back to her and hugged it lovingly.

"She will need a mother soon though. She is a little girl after all and needs a female role model." Will piped in suddenly but then adjusted his glasses awkwardly when his friend shot him a dirty glare. "I am just saying."

"I think we're done with this conversation now." Undertaker said sternly as Will nodded.

"Very well." Will muttered but then a ghost of a smile appeared on his thin lips.

"Whatcha thinking Will?" The silver-haired reaper asked curiously.

"I just had a thought. Look." Both sets of green eyes looked down at the baby girl who was now trying to tuck the flower into her hair but only succeeded in spreading the petals around her head. "She seems to already have a role model in mind. And this one could surprisingly act as a great 'female' role model for her. For now at least."

Shellobeth looked up at the two and smiled softly as she waved the flower's stem at them and giggled happily.

_'Red showed me how to!' _Shellobeth tried to explain her pretty hair decorations through baby babbles.

"But I know for a fact, that a good role model isn't the only thing you're worried about for her." Will muttered, the atmosphere suddenly becoming gloomy again.

"I swear to God Will. Bring it up one more time and see what happens." Adrian warned, angered that this beautiful scene was broken now.

"I swear, I turn into Sutcliff whenever I am away from my work." Will muttered as he suddenly heard heels approaching them. "Speak of the Devil."

"That bitch finally left but she said the meanest things!" Grell complained as he stopped walking just in front of his friends, not at all phased by their slowly fading gloom faces.

"Oh, Sutcliff, we were just talking about you." Will said with a slight smirk on his lips.

"Y-you where? What on Earth were you two talking about because if it was something bad then I am going to get really angry all over again and that's not good for anyone's completion!" The three reapers were surprised when Shellobeth answered the question in her broken English.

"Bastard mama!" This seemed to lift the dreary mood and carry it far far away.

But it didn't get rid of it completely, and the mood would return soon enough...


	18. Simple, Complex, Perfect

**A/N: So obviously I can't sing because my mouth is numb from the numbing gel I had to put on because I cracked a tooth at a Homecoming game. I also can not see because I spilt oil on my glasses and it won't come off so I have to wait for my mom to get home. But luckly, the characters in this story can still do both :D**

**PS: Question time!: How many chapters should the story have?**

**A:35**

**B:40**

**C: 49**

**D: Just keep going.**

**Remember, there are going to be many sequels. **

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Singing.

It was either the most beautiful thing in the world, or the torture to the ears, but to a child, it was always a comfort, no matter what the voice sounded like. Only one person in the room that day was a child, but the song still served like a comforting lullaby to both people who heard it.

_'They sound almost perfect together.' _Will half thought, half dreamt as he stroked the back of the sleeping child laying on his chest.

His eyes were closed and his glasses laid on his lap, just below the child's left foot while a soft melody coming from the two other reapers in the room filled both sets of ears.

_'I wonder if they are aware that they are not alone.' _A soundless sigh left his lips as he continued to rub the child's back, remembering the whole purpose of coming to this room was to inform the child's father that the baby couldn't sleep but stopping the moment he got to the door and instead sat in a nearby chair and waited, though he really had no reason to wait, for the child had already fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, the two other reapers, Adrian and Grell were both standing on either side of a metal working table with a corpse between the two. Obviously, only the Undertaker was working on the body but both him and Grell were singing. Just by the tune William remembered the song to be an old lullaby normally sung to newborn reapers. It was a silly song but it did ask one important question.

_What kind of reaper will you be?_

Opening his eyes and picking up his glasses, he slid them back on his nose and looked down at a sleeping Shellobeth and thought over that single lyric.

_'What kind of reaper do you want to be Shellobeth?' _He thought as he stroked the girl's small cheek.

At six months, her burns weren't completely gone, but weren't completely visible anymore either. A heavy scar laid across her forehead but was mostly covered by a shock of raven hair much like his own. Her skin was a faded grey/pale/pink combination that seemed to work for her and the rest of her body and scars were hidden by a beautiful pink nightgown that she seemed so fond of wearing and would even put up a fuss if they tried to fit her into anything different. Other than these present features, she looked like a very simple child.

_'A simple reaper then?' _

Of course not. Nothing was simple about the child when she was examined closely.

The last two ribs of her ribcage stuck out oddly, more than likely from the lack of food when she first starved, making four of her many scars swoop up her body, creating odd shapes that almost looked like tulips. Her hair, once blonde would now only grow in thick black with subtle hints of pale silver/blonde, giving her hair the look of bright shines as if the sunlight always touched her. Her eyes were the oddest thing about her. They were many shades of pink, which navy pupils in place of typical black with flecks of white in them. Even her skin color was many different shades due to her burns.

_'Perhaps a complex one? Much like your father?'_

Will almost chuckled in amusement at this thought as he studied the child even closer. The two Crevans, despite not being related, did in fact look very much alike and even acted similar.

Shellobeth wasn't old enough to have her hair styled, but she always slept on her face for a few minutes before rolling over, causing what bangs so did have to fan out oddly over her forehead, hiding her eyes from everyone's view until they got brushed away and yet leaving her scar visible along her cheek. On top of that, she was usually a happy child, even in not so happy situations, giggling happily and smiling widely even while a dead body was brought to the morgue. Another similarity was their obsession with bones, including having her bottles and toys in that shape but her favorite treat being a biscuit in that shape. Even her fingernails, as Will noticed, were growing now as dark as her hair.

_'No. Not even this.' _

He smiled and finally tore his gaze away from the child to listen to the remains of the song. It was an odd song now that he thought of it. Talking about both life and death and the many choices a reaper would have to face in life, but what made the song even more odd was the two singing it at that moment.

They were nothing alike, even lifetimes apart and yet so alike. The red-head was crazy, Will would admit that in a heart-beat and yet it was this insane nature of his that drove him to do the things he did, including his job and was simply a part of his personality. The silver-haired man, on the other hand, was a special kind of crazy which was only skin deep and as Will had seen many times since the baby's arrival, wasn't even that deep to begin with. It was only a cover-job, much like the morgue itself, not actually a vital part in the personality.

Personality. Outgoing and secluded and yet both were still fun loving but found joy in different things such as the living and the already dead. The baby was one thing, however, that they both found joy in.

Though love for the child was only something that the father had for her right away. The red-head showed much resentment towards the child until she began to wear on the- perhaps Adrian wasn't the only one with a cover personality.

Will was suddenly cracked from his thoughts as the sound of higher notes, suddenly aware of the two reapers presence yet again. The song reached a climax with both voice, though different in octaves, somehow mixed perfectly together, sounding odd yet complex.

_'Odd and complex, and yet so perfect.' _

Looking down at the child he smiled softly and kissed her forehead.

_'You will be a perfect reaper.' _

The child sneezed softly as her eyes fluttered open, catching the other two's attention as the song came to an abrupt end and their heads turned from the body to the baby.

"Aww. Theres daddy's little girl." Undertaker cooed as he walked over to Shellobeth and took her from Will.

"She couldn't sleep." William said quickly as he rose even quicker from the chair. "Until about a few minutes ago."

"Couldn't sleep?" Grell asked as he looked worriedly over at the child and put a hand on her forehead. "That isn't like her, maybe shes sick."

"Or perhaps she has to much on her mind." Will whispered, barely above one octave but then spoke aloud. "She fell asleep the moment she heard you two singing."

"That goofy song?" Grell all but laughed as he walked over to Will and hugged him. "That song gave me nightmares when I first heard it."

"Of the future." Will muttered, having the same nightmares as a child. "But it does give you something to think about. Like who this little girl will become when she is older."

"Meh! One thing for sure is that she will be a very happy reaper, given her upbringing." Grell responded happily, gesturing to the small child who just nuzzled her father and ignored him.

A warning glare from said father, silenced the raven haired man before he could bring up the topic of how her upbringing would be with a single parent and three family friend's raising her without a female roll, but the more he thought over the topic, the more he realized how complex he had been making things and how silly it seemed now.

"Yes, I suppose that is true." Will sighed as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Now shouldn't we get her off to bed again?"

A sudden cough erupted from the child's lips, causing everyone to freeze mid-stance. One cough was followed by several hacks as if the baby was chocking on something and the moment she was turned on her back, the contents of her stomach flew from her mouth, violent compared to her regular spit-ups.

_'That must have been what was keeping her up!' _

The child began to sob as red and white liquid trailed from her mouth to create a pink goo that ruined her beautiful dress and scared her guardians terribly and soon had them racing for the door as more vomit fell to the floor. All during this, Adrian tried to calm the child down enough that her shaking and sobs wouldn't cause anymore vomit and luckily, that same song, regardless of missing a singing partner, seemed to do the trick and put the child back to sleep and yet pink still left her lips so she was turned on her back to prevent her from chocking on it.

_'What kind of reaper will you be?" _A new answer came to Will's mind, instead of a perfect one, an alive and healthy one, hopefully.

The three stopped running the moment they reached the apartment that contained the only doctor in town that worked on children who would possibly be awake at this hour and lucky, worked from home and luckily, she was.

The door opened as soon as knuckles touched it, reviling the person whose name was etched in the glass of the door.

**Angeline Durless. **


	19. The Queen of Hearts

**A/N: Update time :D P.S: Crack fic is up called 'Whats going on Anyway?' featuring our favorite reapers and a popular game show. SO, here we go for this chapter! **

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"Look Shelly, your first doctor's visit." Undertaker muttered grimly as he bopped the child's nose with a cotton swab.

Shellobeth went cross-eyed for a minute and then whimpered as her tummy made yet another gurgling sound but luckily, this time nothing came out of it.

"I still don't see why we had to take her here." Will said sternly, earning a few odd glances from his peers before quickly explaining things. "I mean a human doctor."

"Well, human baby, human doctor." Grell said as he leaned against the wall as if it was the most casual conversation ever. "It seemed to make sense, and if worse comes to worse-"

A cotton swab was thrown at him, landing in his hair and then rolling right off as he whipped around and shot daggers at the two behind him. A black fingernail was quickly pointed at a pink cheek of the child as the child sucked her thumb innocently and pointed her own accusing finger at a lampshade.

"If you two weren't so cute I could murder you all." He growled as he rolled his eyes and turned back to Will. "Worse- Then we just take her to the Dispatch before she dies an-"

A yelped escaped from his lips as he hit the ground hard as a shoe made contact with the back of his head. Jumping to his feet, he picked up the shoe, which ended up being a pink ballet flat, and pointed at the two again.

"Stop throwing things at me! You're setting a bad example for the baby!" He growled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Actually Sutcliff, the baby threw that one." Will said simply as he plucked the shoe from the other man's hands and walked back over to the baby and slid it back on her foot. "But that is beside the matter. Why didn't we take her back to the Dispatch so that she wouldn't have that possibility of dying."

Grell was about to speak but was cut off by the red-haired doctor walking in seconds later with a few vile in her hand and her doctor's jacket on.

"Hello all." She said simply as she walked in between the two men and stopped just before the child. "Now Shelly, I'm going to give you something for your tummy OK sweety?"

Taking the child into her arms and uncorking the bottle, she placed the lip of the glass to the child's lips, only to have it be smacked away from her.

"Now now. This will make you feel better." Angeline said sternly as she took the bottle back in her grip and set the child back in her father's arms and held her mouth open with her fingers.

The liquid smelt vile and yet sweet, which was something any of the adults in the room knew well what it was.

"Oh no, don'-!" Undertaker was cut off by his daughter suddenly puking her guts up all over herself.

Shellobeth cried as her stomach was forced to empty again and this time, her cries were brutal and heartbreaking to those who cared about her.

"By God! Stop doing that! She'll end up puking herself to death!" Grell growled as he stepped forward and snagged the bottle from the doctor and took a few steps back.

"She might have been choking on something! Like, an earring." Angeline said simply as she felt around in the puddle of vomit and picked up what looked to be a red gem. "Fake ones like these, have dye in them, which have the same effect as that liquid I just gave her."

She smiled kindly at the child and rubbed her tummy gently and began to rub the stomach acid off of the gem until it was clean enough to make out again. A heart shape that was bloody red in color. Setting it down, she picked up another bottle and uncorked it, sending a sweet scented liquid into the air that vaguely covered up the smell of puke as she washed it down the baby's dry throat.

"But whose earring is this?" She asked as she turned to face the other's and held out the gem, noticing the other red-head visibly pale.

A shaking, gloved hand reached up to his own ear, which now stands out oddly against his pale face for the ear was bright red.

"What happened to your ear?" Angeline asked as she stepped forward, being a doctor and all, any type of medical case was of interest to her.

She tugged the hand away to see a small chain pierced into it, with an odd golden mess of wires towards the bottom of it. Crimson eyes scanned over to the other ear to see the same chain, the only difference? Once her eyes got to the bottom of it, she saw in place of wires, was a red heart. Her eyes widened, as did the other's, when she matched the gem with the other.

"So it was just a broken earring?" Will asked quickly, trying to ease the tension of the room only to find it growing thicker.

"You didn't notice it broke?" Madame Red asked as she looked at the broken chain and frowned as she touched his ear and noticed him wince.

"I didn't." The red-head answered swiftly, almost nervously. "Well, I did but didn't think much of it."

"Then why wear it still if it broke?" Madame Red pressed a bit further, trying to keep the questions less suspicions sounding.

"Its a pair..." He muttered annoyingly. "My favorite pair for that matter."

"Odd way it broke." Angeline began again, stepping out of the way so the silver-haired man could see what she saw. "Almost looks like someone broke it on purpose."

"ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF TRYING TO KILL HER!?" Grell demanded angrily, not noticing his friend shift the child in his arms and walking over to pluck the earring from his friend to examine it for himself.

Four loops, all made from one wire, were bent out of the way so the gem could fall through. It didn't look at all like it had just broken on its own. A small cry erupted from Shellobeth, causing a deadly quiet to enter the room the moment it ended.

"How did she get a hold of this?" Was the first question, asked in Adrian's voice, that night. "Shes been in her crib since we got home today."

"I don't know." Grell huffed out, letting his irritation show, unlike his friend. "But I didn't put it there if thats what you're thinking."

"He never said he was." Will said sternly as he took a step closed, making the red-head flinch. "But that brings up the question of how she did get a hold of it."

A straggled growl escaped from the accused as he folded his arms over his chest, shooting even more daggers at his boss.

"Will! You were the only one in her room today when we got back! I only went in there once to wake her up!" Grell shot back, sounding angry.

"Getting awfully defensive, sir." Angeline said in a way that sounded more like 'ass' than 'sir'.

That was the breaking point for the red-head when he saw Will nodding and the two Crevan's averting their gazes.

"Fuck you all." He gasped out in rage as he turned around and picked up his jacket and tossed it over his shoulders. "If I wanted that brat dead then I would've left her in that God forsaken house!"

The door swung open and then slammed shut as he left, his curses soon fading into the night.

"Oh dear." Madame Red muttered as she slid the gem into her pocket and then turned to the family again. "As long as he stays away from her, she should be alright to go home for the night, unless you want her to stay here for the night just to make sure."

The silver and dark haired men got slowly from their chairs and headed toward the door, Will leaving first, and Adrian staying at the door just a moment longer before speaking.

"I think we'll just take her home, but just in case, perhaps just should stop by tomorrow?" An unfamiliar smile graced his lips for a moment, a much more human looking one as he left the office with a slightly blushing Madame Red.

"O-Oh, I would like that." She said to the now closed door before giggling like a crushing child. "For the baby's check up of course!"

With a soft giggle, she skipped off towards her apartment, oddly enough, connected to her office.


	20. sequal preview:Her name was Avery

**A/N: I am pleased to announced that when I checked the reviews for this story I found that- 100 reviews! WHOOP! Lets try for another 100! :D Anywho, please don't kill me you guys, but to celebrate this story receiving 100 reviews, this story is going to go in a different direction real quick in only 1000 words! Prepare for sadness though! So lets find out exactly what happened 500 years ago :D and whose story gets mirrored in this chapter!**

* * *

_"Can I finally drive the company car now?" The fourteen year old asked as she followed behind her father like a shadow, her silver hair and black clock flowing behind her._

_"No." He said simply as he looked over his shoulder and looked at his child, her matching green eyes reflecting in the lenses of his glasses._

_"What if Will says I can?" She asked as she crossed her arms behind her back and pouted her bottom lip cutely._

_"Not even." He replied sternly as he turned back to the path they were walking down and kept walking._

_"Pleeeeeeease!?" She begged, flashing a pair of green puppy dog eyes as she hugged him from behind._

_"No." He said simply as he patted her hands and kept walking._

_"Aww! You're no fun, Adrian." The girl muttered as she let go of him and folded her arms over her chest this time._

_"Excuse me?" He stopped and turned to her and copied her actions in folding his own arms._

_"Daddy." She corrected herself as she tried to avoid his steel like gaze. "But seriously, Please please please!"_

_"Ask your mother." He smirked as the girl's face fell and she stomped her foot._

_"Thats not even funny." She complained as she rushed over to him and he hugged her, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "Mom died before I knew her."_

_A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he tilted her chin upwards and kissed her forehead. This child was Adrian's only daughter, Avery, who had just turned 14 and was now begging her father to allow her to drive the Dispatch company car._

_"Which is why I am not allowing you to drive. You are to young and there is a high risk of you getting hurt." He said sternly as he kissed her forehead again._

_"William will be in the car with me! I won't get hurt!" Avery begged as she tugged her father's braided hair. "Please?"_

_He smiled softly at her and sighed softly this time before nodding._

_"Alright, but only if Will is there with you." Adrian smiled as Avery practically crushed his ribs in a tight hug._

_"Thanks daddy! You're the best!" She announced happily as she took off running down the path in the direction of the Dispatch building in search of Will._

_Little did the father and daughter know this would be the last time they would see each other alive._

* * *

_"A demon." A stern faced reaper observed at the scene. "Thats what killed him. Severed his head."_

_"A pity really." Another reaper muttered as he too, looked over the body they had found. "Didn't this one have a little one back home?"_

_"That he did. A daughter." The first replied as he looked up at the other. "She was only fourteen years of age."_

_"Was? May I assume she is no longer with us?" A nod answered this question. "The cause of death?"_

_"Car crash, though from what I have seen, that wasn't an accident." He turned his attention to burn marks on the nearby trees that he remember were also found on the girl's body earlier that day. "Those marks were found on the child as well. It can be safely assumed that the demon attacked the child, killer her, and the father went after it."_

_"That would make the most sense, Thompson." The other reaper muttered as he looked over the body and reached into the corpse's jacket and took out a photo and looked at it._

_A redheaded woman wearing black glasses stood next to the man, who now laid dead on the ground, in the photo. It was obvious in the photo that the woman had been pregnant with their daughter at the time the photo was taken. He sighed as he recognized clearly who the woman was, his sister, Sophie._

_"The wife... How did she die?" He asked as he slowly got to his feet and pocketed the photo._

_"She was walking the family dog one night when it got away from her. She ran off in search of it and found it in a nearby barn where she was attacked by a demon." Thompson said smugly as he bit the end of the fag in his mouth before spitting it out. "Possibly the same one that killed the rest of her family. Except you Sut-"_

_"Shut up." The man snapped suddenly before turning on his heels and walking towards the second company car, the thought of the family- his family, the only ones he had left, never once leaving his mind. _

* * *

"All these years and I'm still having that same dream." The silver haired man muttered as he went over to the cradled where his adopted daughter now slept soundly.

If this was any other day, the baby would have stayed in her cradle for the rest of the night, but tonight, she got to sleep in daddy's bed.

"Ma!" She cooed softly in her sleep as she began to squirm a little and kicked her feet, causing her adoptive father to smile softly, yet sadly at her.

"Avery." He muttered softly as he ruffled the sleeping child's hair, gently undoing any tangles he found in the now long black hair.

"Da!" Shellobeth responded as her small eyes fluttered opened and she smiled up at him widely, the same smile he had last seen _Her_ with.

_'Thanks Daddy! You're the best!'_


End file.
